Citing the problem arising out of federal character of our Constitution and opposition by several states to the rivers inter-linking project, the Supreme Court on Monday said it would like to close the monitoring of it despite issuing suo motu notice for this purpose nine years ago.
A bench of Chief Justice S.H. Kapadia and Justices A.K. Patnaik and Swantanter Kumar listed several difficulties coming in the way of the top court to continue with the case, especially when the issues of federalism were raised by several states, as the river water is essentially a state subject.
The top court reminded senior advocate Ranjit Kumar, appointed as amicus curiae by the court to assist it, that several states had even opposed the feasibility reports about some inter-linking projects prepared by the task force set up by the Centre.
“Since the Union government has set up the task force and it is working on the project and if the government wants to implement it, it was for the government to decide. Why should we continue with the monitoring?” the CJI said even as some states, including Rajasthan, made a submission supporting the monitoring.
As counsel for some other states also said that the monitoring should not be closed as most of the states had agreed to several inter-linking projects and even given their consent to the Centre, the bench cited the top court order in police reforms, saying that verdict had also come with the “consent of states” but later almost all the states cited difficulties in implementing it.
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Chavan: Reach conclusion early
Age Correspondents
New Delhi\Mumbai, Jan. 9
Maharashtra chief minister Prthviraj Chavan said that it was in the interest of both the parties that the seat-sharing talks conclude at the earliest so that the “communal forces” ruling the country’s richest civic body are defeated.
On senior leader Gurudas Kamat’s opposition to cede more seats to NCP, Mr Chavan said Mr Kamat had put forth his views before the party. “It should not be construed as rebellion against the party,” he added.
Earlier, addressing newly elected councillors and municipal council presidents, Mr Chavan said the challenge before the Congress was to fight communal parties. as well as regional parties.
“It is important to re-establish importance of national parties,” he said, adding that the Congress had won the highest number of seats in the municipal councils.
A Congress MP Hussain Dalwai on Monday backed the CM’s attempts to have a pre poll alliance with the NCP to check communal forces in the state. But the seat sharing arrangement between the two should be realistic, he viewed.