Centre, Haryana oppose Punjab’s plea in BBMB case

Chandigarh: An incident from the life of Guru Gobind Singh was quoted during the hearing into the ongoing water-sharing dispute between Punjab and Haryana in the High Court on Monday to oppose the Punjab government's plea to recall the May 6 order, which paved the way for the release of 'extra water' from Bhakra Nangal Dam.

The Centre, Haryana government and the Bhakra Beas Management Board (BBMB) on Monday opposed the Punjab government's application to recall the High Court’s May 6 order.

The Additional Solicitor General Satya Pal Jain quoting an incident from the life of Guru Gobind Singh said that the Sikh leader summoned one Bhai Kanhaiya to explain the complaint about his actions on the battlefield.

Guru Gobind Singh said, "These brave Sikhs are saying that you go and feed water to the enemy and they recover to fight them again – Is this true?"

To which, Bhai Kanhaiya replied: "Yes, Guru, what they say is true. But Maharaj, I saw no Mughal or Sikh on the battlefield. I only saw human beings..."

Guru Gobind Singh was very pleased with the reply.

Jain said that though two Punjab government officers had attended the meeting on May 2 (where the Union government had allegedly decided to allocate an extra share of water to Haryana), till date, none have come forward to dispute this

He alleged that now Punjab is seeking to avoid compliance under the garb of institutional bullying.

Advocate General of Haryana, Pravindra Singh Chauhan, clarified that Haryana was not demanding a share of Punjab’s allocation.

“It was an emergency measure during an acute drinking water shortage. We approached BBMB only when there was no alternative,” he added.

Meanwhile, Senior Advocate Gurminder Singh, denied that Punjab gave consent at the May 2 meeting.

Chief Justice Sheel Nagu and Justice Sumeet Goel reserved the matter after hearing the parties at length.