Water Act terminated

The Supreme Court had no choice other than invalidating the Punjab Termination of Agreements Act, 2004. No State can be allowed legally to repudiate unilaterally inter-state agreements; otherwise there would be total federal chaos. The limited issue before the court was the Presidential reference on whether the Punjab Act was valid. Had the court upheld the Act, it would have negated its own previous judgment requiring the construction of the SYL canal. There are two ways to settle a dispute: either through negotiations or through courts. Once the judicial option has been exercised, the court verdict becomes binding. Any willful disobedience will have unhelpful consequences.

By passing the Act in question in 2004, Capt Amarinder Singh as Chief Minister might have tried genuinely to serve the cause of Punjab. But if he really allowed himself to believe the Act would stand legal scrutiny in court, then he certainly got bad legal advice. Politically, he tried to sell himself as a savior of river waters but voters did not buy the claim. By resigning his Lok Sabha seat after Thursday’s verdict, the Captain is seeking to resurrect his political credibility. The Congress MLAs’ attempt to pass their resignation as a sacrifice is nothing but political manoeuvring.

The Akalis, under pressure to play one up on the Congress’ water politics, have reiterated their resolve not to allow the SYL canal construction since the state has no surplus water to spare. Earlier this year the Punjab Assembly had passed a Bill to return the SYL land to the original owners but the Governor wisely did not sign it and the Supreme Court maintained the status quo. If a Bill is now passed to scrap the Section permitting the sharing of river waters, the amendment would meet the fate of the 2004 Act; nor can the Governor be expected to give his consent to it. Punjab has serious water issues such as sinking water table due to over-exploitation, pollution of water resources and desilting of rivers and canals and repair of embankments. These require multiple initiatives, which do not seem to sufficiently excite Punjab’s water warriors. But with the Punjab Assembly elections only a few months away, it is unrealistic to expect the political leaders to refrain from grandstanding.