India's Supreme Court on Monday refused to grant an urgent hearing on a PIL seeking declaration of the India-Pakistan Indus Water Treaty as unconstitutional. "There is no urgency in the matter. It will come up for hearing in due course," a bench comprising Chief Justice T S Thakur and Justice A M Khanwilkar said. Advocate M L Sharma, who filed the PIL in his personal capacity on the issue, sought urgent hearing of the matter saying the treaty was unconstitutional as it was not signed as per the constitutional scheme and hence should be declared "void ab initio".
When the petitioner advocate pressed for an early hearing, the court asked him where he was all these years. "Keep politics aside. The matter will come in due course," the bench said when the lawyer insisted on an urgent hearing.