The Supreme Court on Tuesday criticised the Punjab government for its “high-handedness” by refusing to follow an order for constructing the Sutlej-Yamuna Link Canal to resolve its water-sharing row with Haryana, Bar and Bench reported.

A bench of Justices BR Gavai and Augustine George Masih also directed both the Punjab and Haryana governments to cooperate with the Centre and arrive at an “amicable solution” to the row, PTI reported.

The matter would be heard on August 13 if the state governments and the Centre are unable to find a solution, The Hindu reported.

The matter pertained to a suit filed in the court in 1996 by the Haryana government against Punjab in connection with the dispute over the canal, according to Bar and Bench.

In 1981, Punjab, Rajasthan and Haryana had entered into a water-sharing agreement. As part of this, Punjab and Haryana had to construct their portions of the Sutlej-Yamuna Link Canal within their territories.

The canal is meant to allow Haryana to draw its share of water from the Ravi and Beas rivers, besides distributing water among four other states – Himachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir, Rajasthan and Delhi.

Haryana constructed the portion of the canal, but Punjab stopped work after the initial phase due to violence surrounding the construction.

In 2002, the court ordered the Punjab government to construct the canal.

However, in 2004, the state passed the Punjab Termination of Agreement Act to end the 1981 agreement.

In 2016, the court struck down the law. A year later, it said that Punjab cannot defy its order on the construction of the Sutlej Yamuna Link Canal and asked the Centre to take over its construction.

It also ordered the Punjab government to maintain the status quo in connection with the land and properties associated with the canal, The Hindu reported. At the time, Haryana moved the court after Punjab had decided to de-notify project land and give it back to farmers.

At the hearing on Tuesday, the court asked whether it was not an “act of high-handedness that once the [2002] decree was passed for construction of the canal, the land was de-notified which was acquired for the construction of canal,” Bar and Bench reported.

It added: “This is trying to defeat the decree of the court. This is a clear case of highhandedness. It should have helped three states. Land was acquired for the project and you de-notified that.”

Advocate Gurminder Singh, representing the Punjab government, said that the proposal to construct the canal had led to unrest in Punjab, according to Bar and Bench.

“This has become very emotive issue with the public, it is not government’s thing,” Singh was quoted as saying. “Punjab, being a border state, could not afford this unrest on this issue. Therefore, whatever the measures the government of that time had taken, have been adjudicated.”

It needed to be looked into whether the decree to construct the canal could be executed at the cost of unrest in the state, or if alternative measures could be found, Singh added.

But the bench noted that Haryana had already constructed its part of the canal. “They [Haryana] discharged their duty and constructed 100 km canal…but you Punjab did not construct the 90 km you had to,” Bar and Bench quoted the bench as saying.

On behalf of the Haryana government, advocate Shyam Divan questioned how Punjab could unilaterally suspend the 2002 verdict.

Divan also said that efforts had been made for years to resolve the issue. But now “one party” has taken the law into its own hands, he added.

“It is resulting into a huge problem,” Bar and Bench quoted Divan as saying. “Imagine taking control over the works of common Bhakra dam and that body [Bhakra Beas Management Boards] had to go and file a petition in the court.”

The advocate was referring to a fresh dispute over Haryana’s request to release water from Bhakra Nangal project.

On Monday, the Aam Aadmi Party government in Punjab passed a resolution in the Legislative Assembly vowing not to spare “even a single drop of water” from its share for Haryana.

The resolution accused the Bharatiya Janata Party of attempting to “take away” Punjab’s rights through state governments, the Centre and the Bhakra Beas Management Board.

The BJP is the ruling party in Haryana.

The board is responsible for the administration and maintenance of the Bhakra Nangal and Beas projects. It regulates the supply of water and power to Punjab, Haryana, Rajasthan, Himachal Pradesh, Delhi and Chandigarh.

The Bhakra Nangal project comprises two dams on the Satluj river: the Bhakra dam in Himachal Pradesh and the Nangal dam in Punjab. The Beas project is a multi-purpose river valley project comprising the Beas-Satluj Link Canal and the Beas Dam.

On April 23, the Haryana government sought 8,500 cusecs of water from the Bhakra Nangal project, which was 4,500 cusecs more than what it was receiving. The Punjab government, however, opposed the request, claiming that Haryana had already withdrawn 3.110 MAF (million acre feet), or 104%, of its share for the whole year.