Water Agreements Act is sub judice: Amarinder

By Staff
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Google Oneindia News

Chandigarh, Mar 5 (UNI) Former Punjab Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh today claimed that the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD)-BJP government could not scrap Section five of the Punjab Termination of Agreements Act 2004, which protects the existing flow of waters from the border state to Haryana and Rajasthan.

''The matter is sub judice as it is pending in the Supreme Court'', Capt Singh said, talking to mediapersons at the Congress Bhavan here, and pointed out that the Act was challenged in the apex court after it was passed by his government.

Chief Minister Prakash Singh Badal had, on Saturday, stated that the clause would be scrapped as it was discriminatory and moreover Punjab was the riparian state. Scrapping the clause was a pre-election promise and his government was committed to scrapping, it Mr Badal noted.

The Act, introduced in 2004 by the previous Congress government headed by Capt Singh, abrogates all earlier water sharing agreements signed between Punjab and its neighbouring states. Section five was inserted after the Act was passed by the state Assembly and it guarantees protection of existing usage of water to Haryana and Rajasthan.

Replying to a question on the state Cabinet, Capt Singh said ''it is a Badal cabinet and not of the government''. In this context he refered to the inclusion of Manpreet Singh Badal, nephew of the Chief Minister, Adesh Pratap Singh Kairon, son-in-law of Mr Badal, Mr Bikram Singh Majithia, brother-in-law of Sukhbir Badal and Janmeja Singh Sekhon, another Badal relative in the Cabinet.

Asked about the debacle of the Congress in the state assembly polls, the former chief minister said that his party would analyse the reasons for the defeat. '' As I led the party to the polls, i take my share of the responsibility'', he added.

UNI

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