CHANDIGARH—On March 14, the Punjab assembly unanimously passed a bill to return 3928 acres of land acquired for the construction of the Satluj-Yamuna Link (SYL) Canal. The land will be returned to the farmers that originally owned it, free of cost.
When he introduced the bill, Chief Minister Parkash Badal reiterated his previous statements that Punjab did not have a single drop of water to spare. He further specified that the Punjab government would provide services to level the land before returning it to the farmers. There was some disagreement regarding credit among the treasury and the opposition. Congress MLAs claimed that the bill was presented under pressure. However, the Akalis asserted that if the Congress was so sincere about Punjab’s waters then why didn’t it return the land to the farmers in 2004 while passing Punjab Termination of Agreements Act.
The bill was named the Punjab Satluj-Yamuna Link Canal Land (Transfer of Proprietary Rights) Act of 2016. Section 6 of the bill states that “no lawsuit can be filed against the state or any person for any act committed in good faith.”
The state government has also barred the civil courts from hearing any case related to this act. The act is kept outside of the jurisdiction of Civil Courts.
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