Ruling Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) today said Punjab government is exercising its "constitutional right" to bring a Bill in the state assembly tomorrow to denotify and return 5,376 acres of land acquired for construction of the SYL canal to the owners.
"It is our legal right as per the Constitution to bring a Bill in Vidhan Sabha and we are just exercising that right," SAD Spokesman Daljit Singh Cheema said.
He asserted, "We are not doing anything unlawful by bringing the Bill in Vidhan Sabha."
Cheema said 'The Punjab Satluj Yamuna Link Canal (Rehabilitation and Re-vesting of Proprietary Rights) Bill, 2016' will be tabled in state Assembly tomorrow for passage.
On political parties in Haryana requesting Governor Kaptan Singh Solanki not to give his assent to the Bill, the SAD spokesman said, "Governor has the constitutional duty to perform and we are using our legal right."
Reacting sharply to the allegation that the Bill is "unconstitutional", Cheema said, "The Bill cannot be termed as illegal or unconstitutional.
"Punjab Cabinet has cleared the draft of the Bill and the opinion of Legal Remembrancer (LR) is attached," the state Education Minister said adding, "the Bill will be tabled tomorrow in the Assembly".
Punjab Cabinet had given nod to introduce "The Punjab Satluj Yamuna Link Canal (Rehabilitation and Re-vesting of Proprietary Rights) Bill, 2016" in the ongoing Budget session of state assembly to de-notify and return 5,376 acres of land acquired for the construction of SYL canal to the owners.
Yesterday, all political parties, except Congress, in Haryana had met Solanki, who is Governor of both Punjab and Haryana and requested him not to give his assent to a bill being brought by Punjab to de-notify the land for construction of Satluj-Yamuna Link (SYL) Canal.
An all-party meeting chaired by Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar had unanimously adopted a resolution which was submitted to the Governor as a memorandum.
In the memorandum submitted to the Governor, it was stated, "...Haryana is neither asking for charity, nor demanding Punjab's share of water. Haryana only wants a passage to get its allocated share of the Ravi-Beas waters, and this passage is the SYL Canal.
