New Delhi:
The Supreme Court deferred the final hearing in the Sutlej-Yamuna Link (SYL) canal case to April 27 on Wednesday stating that it does not want to shut the door to an amicable solution to the matter after the Centre informed the apex court that a meeting of Punjab and Haryana has been convened by it on April 20.
The court, however, made it clear that if a solution is not found, it will proceed with the matter on the next date of hearing.
"A meeting has been called at the highest level on April 20. The government of India is very keen to find a solution," solicitor general Ranjit Kumar told the bench headed by Justice PC Ghose.
The bench, also comprising Justice Amitava Roy, considered the statement of solicitor general and deferred the hearing in the case to April 27.
"We do not want to shut the door to an amicable solution," the bench said when senior advocate Shyam Divan, appearing for Haryana, reminded it that the matter has been listed for final hearing with regard to execution of the court's judgement favouring construction of SYL canal.
Senior advocate Ram Jethmalani, who represents Punjab in the case, said that he has always been saying that an out-of-court solution should be found to the impasse. The bench stated that if a solution is not found, it will proceed with the matter on the next date of hearing.
