New Delhi, March 31
The Supreme Court has dismissed the petitions of Punjab and Haryana seeking a review of the September 27, 2011 judgment by which the apex court had directed the two states to raise Himachal’s share of electricity in the Bhakra-Nangal project from 2.5 per cent to 7.19 per cent with retrospective effect from 1966.

“We have gone through the review petitions and the connected papers. We find no merit in the review petitions and the same are dismissed,” a Bench comprising Justices AK Patnaik and Swatanter Kumar said in a March 29 order made available today.

The Bench also refused to hear the case in the open court and adjudicated the petitions by way of circulation within the judges’ chambers. “Application for hearing in open court is rejected,” the brief order said.

In the 90-page verdict, a Bench comprising Justices RV Raveendran and AK Patnaik had declared that Himachal “is entitled to 7.19 per cent of the power of the composite state of Punjab from the Bhakra-Nangal Project with effect from November 1, 1966,” up from 2.5 per cent till then.

The apex court had delivered the verdict on an original suit filed by Himachal in 1996, making the Centre, Rajasthan and Chandigarh also as parties, besides Punjab and Haryana. Senior advocate JS Attri, associated with the suit right from the beginning, said the state’s demand stood vindicated once again.

In the 2011 verdict, the SC had asked the Centre to calculate and inform the court within six months the compensation amounts due to Himachal from Punjab and Haryana with six per cent interest as a result of the higher share of electricity with retrospective effect.

Punjab and Haryana had sought a review, maintaining that the SC had ignored the fact that unlike Himachal they had invested in the projects and incurred expenses on maintenance and in servicing the loans. Therefore, a corresponding liability should be placed on HP.

Punjab and Haryana had also questioned the wisdom in deciding Himachal’s share on the basis of the transferred population. Decreeing the suit partly in favour of Himachal, the Bench had dismissed the pleas against the Centre, Rajasthan and Chandigarh and HP’s demand for 12 per cent free power claimed on the basis of the projects being located in its territory.