New Delhi:
The Supreme Court again appointed receivers on Wednesday in the ongoing Sutlej-Yamuna Link (SYL) canal dispute between Punjab and Haryana.
The SC has also sought a report from both the states by December 15 on the present status of land and other properties on the canal site.
A bench comprising justice PC Ghose and justice Amitava Roy, however, made clear that Union home secretary, chief secretary of Punjab and the director general of Punjab Police, who have been made receivers, will not be taking over of the possession of the land, meant for the SYL canal project.
The three officers were earlier appointed receivers on March 17 on the plea of Haryana and they were given power to take possession of the project land and were also asked to maintain status quo on the site.
Later, a five-judge Constitution bench, on November 10, set aside the Punjab Termination of Agreement Act, 2004 which "unilaterally" terminated the 1981 water-sharing pact with Haryana.
The bench, however, had not asked the receivers to continue with their job.
Senior advocate Shyam Divan, appearing for Haryana, said that recently, Punjab government had decided to denotify the land acquired for the SYL canal project with immediate effect and return them to the owners free of charge.
The bench, for the time being, did not agree with the submission of Divan that the receivers, like earlier, should take over possession of the land in question as the attempts have been made by Punjab to ensure that the verdicts of this court is not enforced.
"The decision to denotify 5,376 acres of acquired land for the project and give them back to 4,980 farmers or their descendants would further complicate the issue," Divan said while urging the bench to pass an order to maintain status quo on the SYL canal site.
The bench issued notice to Punjab on the plea of Haryana seeking enforcement of apex the court verdicts and appointment of the receivers to ensure that the project land in Punjab remains intact. Haryana rushed to the court after Punjab decided to denotify project land and give them back to farmers.
