Supreme Court Rebukes Delhi Government Over Plea For Additional Water Release

The Supreme Court on Monday sharply criticized the Delhi government during a hearing on its plea seeking additional water from neighboring states.

The court admonished the city administration for not addressing procedural deficiencies in their petition, despite previous warnings.

Case Overview:

Justice P K Mishra and Justice P B Varale expressed frustration that the Union, Haryana, and Himachal Pradesh governments couldn’t e-file reports due to defects in the Delhi government’s submission.

Justice Mishra sternly told the Delhi government’s counsel, “We will dismiss this petition. We pointed out the defects on the last date, but you did not remove them. You do not take court proceedings for granted, however important your case may be!”

In response, the counsel for the Delhi government apologized and promised to rectify the issues by the end of the day.

The court adjourned the matter for further hearing on 12 June and criticized the practice of presenting documents directly in open court.

The Bench emphasized the importance of reviewing documents in a timely manner to avoid reliance on media reports.

Last week, the Supreme Court ordered the Himachal Pradesh government to release surplus water to ensure it reached Delhi without interruption, addressing the acute water shortage faced by the national capital.

On 6 June, the court directed Himachal Pradesh to release 137 cusecs of surplus water to flow through the Hathni Kund barrage to Wazirabad in Delhi.

The court also instructed Haryana to facilitate the flow of this water.

The court had previously stressed the importance of the Delhi government adhering to the Upper Yamuna River Board’s recommendations to prevent water wastage amid the severe shortage.

Compliance affidavits and status reports were mandated to be filed by 10 June.

Earlier directives included an urgent meeting of the Upper Yamuna River Board on 5 June to tackle the water crisis in Delhi, emphasizing the necessity of effectively addressing the water scarcity for the city’s residents.

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