New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Monday expressed its anguish at Delhi government’s failure to remove defects from its petition seeking a direction to Haryana to release surplus water provided by Himachal Pradesh to the national capital to mitigate its ongoing water crisis.
The apex court said it cannot pass orders on the basis of newspaper reports, and also warned the Delhi government that it would dismiss its petition, if defects were not removed.
Senior advocate Shyam Divan, representing the Haryana government, contended before a bench comprising justices Prashant Kumar Mishra and P B Varale that Delhi government has not removed defects from its petition, and the state government could not e-file the affidavit and the status report.
“Why are you not (removing the defects)….Dr A M Singhvi (who argued the matter for Delhi government before the apex court) will not remove the defects and you will remove the defects”, the bench told a counsel, representing the Delhi government. “We will dismiss this petition….on the last date it was pointed out and you did not remove the defects. Do not take court proceedings for granted..... Your case may be important, a statement was made in the court that defects will be removed and you have not removed (the defects). We will simply dismiss this petition. Never take us for granted”, said the bench. The Delhi government counsel apologized before the bench.
The bench said the counsel is straight away handing the series of documents in the court, the filings are not accepted, and the court is not receiving the documents, and added, “then you (Delhi government) say we are suffering from deficit of water, pass an order today itself”. The bench sternly warned the Delhi government that its writ petition would be junked on the ground of failure to remove defects despite the assurance on the last date of hearing.
Justice Mishra said the judges’ would want to read the files, as there are so many things reported in the newspaper, “if we don't read (files and replies and status report) in the residential office, then we will be impressed by whatever newspapers are reporting and that is not good for any of the parties’”. The bench stressed that it will not be good for any party that the court is passing an order based on newspaper reports. The Delhi government counsel assured that the defects from the petition will be removed . The apex court has scheduled the matter for further hearing on Wednesday.
On June 6, the Supreme Court had said that there should be no politics on water, while directing the Haryana government to facilitate 137 cusecs of surplus water released by Himachal Pradesh for Delhi, to mitigate the water crisis in the national capital.
The bench had said that a status report should be submitted before it on Monday and all the parties’ (petitioner Delhi government and respondents’ Haryana and Himachal Pradesh) should also file the compliance affidavit.
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