Row escalates over SYL: SC orders status quo in Punjab

The Supreme Court Thursday directed Punjab to maintain status quo on land meant for the Sutlej-Yamuna Link Canal after Haryana alleged attempts were made to alter its use by levelling it.

A five-judge Constitution Bench headed by Justice A.R. Dave made the Union home secretary and Punjab’s chief secretary and DGP the “joint receiver” of land and property for the Sutlej-Yamuna Link Canal till the next hearing on March 31, saying it “cannot be a silent spectator” if Punjab passed a law to make its earlier ruling unexecutable.

The Sutlej-Yamuna Link Canal standoff escalated further Thursday as MLAs of INLD in Haryana and Congress in Punjab tried to storm each others’ Assemblies. The dispute also threatened to embroil Delhi, whose chief minister Arvind Kejriwal opposed construction of the canal.