SC defers hearing of SYL Canal issue till Feb. 22

New Delhi [India], Feb. 15 (ANI): The Supreme Court on Wednesday refused to hear the Punjab Government's plea to adjourn the SYL- Canal matter till the elections results are announced and posted the matter for further hearing till February 22. Senior lawyer Ram Jethmalani, appearing for the Punjab government, sought an adjournment which the top court refused. A Bench headed by Justice Pinaki Chandra Ghosh refused the plea and asked, "What has the Supreme Court to do with the election results." In January, the apex court asked both the Haryana and Punjab Governments to file their replies on the issue within three weeks. The Punjab Government had earlier sought more time from the court to file a detailed reply on the same. A bench of the court headed by Justice Ghosh and Justice Amitava Roy granted the decision. The apex court had in November last year, termed the law passed by the Punjab government in 2004 to terminate the SYL canal water sharing agreement with neighbouring states as 'unconstitutional'. Holding that the Punjab Termination of Agreement Act, 2004 was not being in conformity with the provisions of the Constitution, the top court answered in the negative to all the four questions referred to it in a presidential reference. A constitution bench of the court ruled that Punjab could not and should not have taken a 'unilateral' decision to terminate the agreement with Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Rajasthan, Jammu and Kashmir, Delhi and Chandigarh to share of the Ravi-Beas river waters. The court ruling was also followed by resignations of Punjab Pradesh Congress Committee president Captain Amarinder Singh and state Congress MLAs. (ANI)