SC Rules Against Punjab;Cong MLAs quit

Minutes after the Supreme Court struck down the state's unilateral abrogation of the water-sharing agreement with Haryana and other neighbouring states, Congress leader Amarinder Singh quit the Lok Sabha and other party lawmakers resigned from the Punjab Assembly. Declaring the act unconstitutional, the top court said Punjab cannot unilaterally wriggle out of an agreement involving other states.

In his first reaction after quitting Lok Sabha, Congress’s Punjab face, Amarinder Singh, blamed Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal for entering into the water-sharing agreement in the first place. “Haryana will never get the water,” he told. The court held that Punjab water termination law of 2004 was not in sync with the 2003 SC judgment. It directed Punjab to construct the remaining part of SYL canal as per the 2003 judgment of the apex court to supply Harayana its share of water.