‘Aur kitna sukhaoge Sukhna lake ko’, CJI Surya Kant expresses concern over drying up of Chandigarh lake
The CJI bench and justices Joymalya Bagchi and Vipul M Pancholi were hearing interim applications filed in the pending 1995 PIL titled ‘In Re: TN Godavarman Thirumulpad’.
While a lawyer was discussing a plea regarding the lake, CJI Kant orally observed: “Aur kitna sukhaoge Sukhna lake ko? There are illegal constructions in Punjab, supported by political formations, in collusion and connivance with bureaucrats, leading to the complete destruction of the lake. All builder mafias are operating there.”
The apex court had earlier wondered why all matters related to forests and lakes bypassed the high courts and came to the apex court, and that too in the form of interlocutory applications in a pending PIL in 1995.
The bench, comprising Chief Justice Kant and Justice Bagchi, initially wondered why all forest-related matters came to this court.
Referring to a reference in the Sukhna Lake case, the CJI had said that a friendly match was apparently being held at the behest of some private developers and others.
The bench had asked Additional Solicitor General Aishwarya Bhati, appearing for the Centre, and senior advocate K Parmeswar, who was assisting the court as amicus curiae in the forest issue, to apprise the court about local issues that the high courts themselves can resolve.
The case around Chandigarh’s Sukhna lake primarily involves the high court’s efforts to protect the catchment area from encroachment, ordering demolition of structures in the protected area in 2020.
