Punjab & Haryana High Court has declined to intervene immediately in a PIL on Punjab floods, stating that ‘officers are right now dealing with the ground situation.’ The bench stressed government resources must remain focused on managing the crisis.
The Punjab and Haryana High Court chose not to intervene at this stage in a public interest litigation (PIL) concerning the severe flooding in Punjab.
A Division Bench, consisting of Chief Justice Sheel Nagu and Justice Sanjiv Berry, noted that any court order at this moment could divert essential government resources currently focused on managing the flood crisis.
The Court remarked,
“The officers are right now dealing with the ground situation. They will have to sit down and file affidavit for this. We don’t want to do that,”
It added,
“They will be extricated from that flood relief and they will be sitting on a table, preparing an affidavit for your petition, which we don’t want to do,”
The petitioner had previously argued that the flooding resulted from governmental mismanagement and that the relief efforts were insufficient.
However, the Court remained unconvinced, stating it would address the matter next week alongside similar petitions concerning the floods in Punjab.
Chief Justice Nagu said,
“We will take it up on Monday,”
Additional Solicitor General Satya Pal Jain emphasized that the authorities are making every effort, stating,
“Government of India, State of Punjab … we are doing our best. Yesterday, the Agriculture Minister was there. This is not the time to raise this issue.”
Counsel for the Punjab government noted that the Supreme Court had acknowledged the flooding in a case discussed on Thursday.
Earlier, On September 2, the High Court had also declined to issue any orders on a comparable PIL seeking court-monitored relief and rehabilitation efforts in the state.