NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court has made it clear that the state of Punjab would have to comply with its order on construction of Satluj Yamuna Link canal. Stating that the ongoing controversy over the project must be brought to an end at the earliest, a bench of Justices PC Ghose and Amitava Roy said it would not accept any excuse of the state government for not implementing its order.
"There are two orders by the court earlier and also a reference on the issue. Canal has to be constructed. The decree has to be executed either through legal process or parties themselves sit together and find out a solution. If Haryana and Punjab fail to sort out then we have to pass order," the bench said. It said that the controversy had been going on for years, and it was time to bring down the curtains. "Enough is enough. We are keen to finish it. We don't want to keep the matter pending," the bench said as it rejected the plea of the Punjab government to post the case after March 11 when the election result of assembly polls would be declared.
Appearing for Punjab, senior advocate Ram Jethmalani, and RS Suri, told the court that the dispute could not be effectively resolved through legal process and the court should asked the Centre to find out political solution. "Centre is duty bound to play the role of a mediator in the inter-state water dispute to uphold the spirit of federalism. In the present case, Union of India has not shown any pro-active approach in sorting out the water issues between the states. Centre should convene a meeting to find out solution instead of the court passing order on the issue," Jethmalani said.
Solicitor General Ranjit Kumar said that even though the apex court had directed for implementation of SYL project, the Punjab Termination of Agreement Act had not been formally declared invalid.
