New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Tuesday took the Haryana government to task on its request to file an affidavit on the drought issue after completing its arguments, saying the proceedings were not a "tamasha" or a "joke".
The apex court said the state government's proposal was "unacceptable" and it shows how serious is the state in a matter which was "not an ordinary litigation."
"You have addressed the court without filing the affidavit, and now you want to file an affidavit. Is this the procedure being followed in Supreme Court? Why should we accept your affidavit? Is this the way litigations are conducted? Is this the procedure you want us to follow? It is not an ordinary litigation.
"What if you are submitting something different from what you said in court in the last hearing? Now we have to cross- check the facts again. Should we do the complete hearing again? For what purpose you had given the data to us. This shows how serious you are about the case. We will not take your affidavit.
"This is not a joke going on. Tamasha chal raha hai yahan (Is this a show going on here)? ... This is not acceptable at all," a bench comprising Justices MB Lokur and NV Ramana said.
Appearing for Haryana, Additional Advocate-General Anil Grover apologised for not being able to submit the affidavit last time and proposed to submit one today.
The apex court refused to accept the affidavit and reprimanded Haryana for its non-seriousness on the issue.
"Is it our fault that you choose not to come and file data? What are we supposed to do? We should be at your mercy," the bench said.
At the end of the day-long hearing in the drought case, when the counsel for Haryana again sought the court's permission to file the affidavit, the bench said it would consider it on April 19.
