Yamuna dispute case may be referred to 5-judge bench: SC

New Delhi, Feb 20 (UNI) The Supreme Court today indicated that it may refer the issue of lack of jurisdiction of this court in deciding the inter-state water disputes between Delhi, Punjab and Haryana for share of Yamuna water to a five judge constitution bench.

A bench comprising Chief Justice K G Balakrishnan and Justices R V Raveendran and D K Jain gave this indication when counsel for state of Haryana challenged the jurisdiction of the apex court in deciding the water dispute.

Earlier, counsel for Haryana contended that this court was not competent to decide the share of each state in Yamuna water as only the Water Disputes Tribunal was competent to decide the issue.

Haryana had also contended that Punjab has not constructed SYL canal, despite the orders of this court, and hence, Haryana was not getting its share of water from Punjab and was being forced to supply water to Delhi at the cost of its own natives.

The counsel also contended that Haryana was not being paid for the water it was supplying to Delhi.

At this, the court reacted by saying that it was natural water and no one can claim or demand money for that.

Counsel for Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) Vijay Panjwani, earlier contended before the court that around Rs 2,400 crore have gone down the drain for making Yamuna water fit for drinking, while the quality of water has deteoriated further instead of showing any improvement. A large amount of money too seems to have been diverted by the authorities illegally, he said.

UNI