‘Presidential Reference is good news’
S P Singh
Chandigarh
OFFICIALLY the Punjab Government isn’t saying much about the Centre’s move to make a Presidential Reference to the Supreme Court, effectively lobbing the SYL row back into the judiciary’s court. Unofficially, top mandarins of the state government who were prime movers behind the SYL canal-blocking Bill can’t stop gloating at the way things have turned out.
Top Punjab officials said the setting up of the Constitutional Bench, a likely development after the President made the Reference under Article 143 of the Constitution to the Supreme Court, is the best thing that can happen in the state’s bid to prevent any additional outflow of river waters than what was already being utilized by the neighbouring states.
“It is the best that we could have asked for after the Supreme Court’s June 4 judgement. Not only is the pressure to hand over the canal construction work to the Centre off, but the Constitutional bench will also give Punjab the opportunity to re-argue the entire case with reference to the larger issue of judicious water allocation too, and not just canal construction,” said a senior official.
Significantly, though the defined points mentioned in the Presidential Reference ask for the apex court’s guidance for legality and validity of the Punjab Termination of Agreements Act 2004 qua the Constitution, Section 14 of the Inter-State Water Disputes Act, 1956 and Section 78 of the Punjab Reorganization Act, 1966, state officials say Punjab will get an opportunity to question the legal validity of Section 78 of the 1966 Act itself.
“Also, the question whether the ISWD Act can apply to this dispute, with Haryana being a non-riparian state, will also have to be decided,” said officials.
They said concerned and affected states will automatically stand arraigned as parties to the case as and when the Constitutional Bench is set up.
Sources said though Punjab’s Team Legal, which even had the advantage of advice from a luminary as senior as former Attorney General Soli J. Sorabjee, has been getting a pat on its back for coming up with the idea of the Termination Bill and seeing it through. The bulk of the actual drafting and seeing it through fell largely to the lot of Principal Secretary, Irrigation, K. R. Lakhanpal.
“Interestingly, during the fateful period, the state saw the Irrigation portfolio shifting from Gurchet Bhullar to Avtar Henry to Lal Singh, but thanks to Lakhanpal’s dexterous anchoring of the entire exercise, the state was able to negotiate its way through,” said a top official.
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Former Attorney General Soli J. Sorabjee’s guidance would no more be available to the state government since he would be busy with a United Nations assignment in the coming weeks. The Punjab Government is likely to avail the services of noted Constitutional expert Harish Salve to defend its case before the still to be set up Constitutional Bench, sources said. Water Disputes expert A.K. Ganguly will also be
part of Punjab’s Team Legal. Sources said another top legal luminary
Fali Nariman was also informally approached by the Punjab Government but
he is not willing to take up the assignment. |
July 23, 2004