SC orders status quo on Sutlej-Yamuna canal land

Supreme Court has ordered to maintain status quo on land acquired for construction of the Sutlej-Yamuna Link canal's stretch in Punjab and appointed the Union Home Secretary, Punjab's Chief Secretary and the Director General of Police as receivers.
A bench of Justice Pinaki Chandra Ghose and Justice Amitava Roy, pronounced this order yesterday on a plea by the Haryana government that sought status quo ante in wake of Punjab government's decision to denotify the



acquired land and restoring it to original owners.
The apex court, however, made it clear that the receivers are only for the purposes of submitting a report on the ground situation.On 10th of November, the Supreme Court had given its verdict on a Presidential Reference to hold as unconstitutional the Punjab Termination of Agreements Act, 2004, passed by the state Assembly. After that Punjab government had de-notified nearly 5,000 acres of land acquired for the canal.