The bar associations of all the 18 districts have observed a token strike twice in favour of their demand and have constituted a coordination committee to carve out the future course of action. At present, there is s single court in Chandigarh which deals with both Haryana and Punjab.

Though Mr Chautala is not opposed to Haryana having a separate high court, he suggests that issues of "trivial" nature should be deferred till more important ones like SYL, transfer of territories and Haryana's claim on Chandigarh are resolved.

At a meeting held in Karnal last week, the lawyers did appreciate Mr Chautala's view but the coordination committee unanimously passed a resolution for early constitution of a high court. Though not a member of the coordination committee, the leader of the six-member Haryana BJP legislature party and a former minister, Krishan Pal Gujjar, while supporting the demand for a separate high court, reiterated that his party would "not allow Haryana's claim on Chandigarh to be weakened. The state could very well keep the seat of Haryana high court at Chandigarh."

A former Chief Justice of the Calcutta high court, Justice D S Tewetia, has remained Haryana's Advocate General and a Judge of the Punjab & Haryana high court. A bar-at-law from Lincon's Inn, Justice Tewetia hails from Haryana.

He was a Congress MLA from Hathin (Faridabad district) in 1966.He told The Financial Express that "Mr Chautala is raising the bogey of Chandigarh only to evade the question of Haryana having its own high court."

Supporting the lawyers, he said "though the Shah Commission (on reorganisation of states) had, on a linguistic basis, awarded Chandigarh to Haryana, Devi Lal and then Punjab PCC president, late Bhagwat Dayal Sharma, had abdicated the claim on Chandigarh and instead sought transfer of 105 Hindi-speaking villages and towns of Abohar and Fazilka of composite Punjab to be given to Haryana. Both these leaders were then in the Congress and had favoured a separate capital city for Haryana.

State leader of the Opposition and former chief minister, Bhajan Lal, and Haryana PCC president, Bhopinder Singh Hooda, however, argued that "following Haryana's acceptance of the Rajiv-Longowal Accord, Haryana is left with no permanent claim on Chandigarh." Instead, the Accord provides for a separate capital city to be built for Haryana at the Centre's cost.

Both these Congress leaders, therefore, are one with Haryana's lawyers on the issue.Veteran Congress leader, S S Surjewala, who has has all these years favoured the delinking of all the Punjab-Haryana disputes, wants the completion of the SYL canal on a priority basis.

According to Mr Surjewala: "Politically, this is considered the most opportune time for completing the Punjab portion of the SYL canal. Moreso when nearly 85 per cent work has long been completed."

He says: "The Punjab chief minister, Prakash Singh Badal, has family relations with his Haryana counterpart. In both the states, the BJP is either a partner or is extending outside support to the government. At the Centre, the Shiromani Akali Dal is a partner in the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government. Mr Chautala's Indian National Lok Dal (INLD) is extending "unconditional outside support. Let, the Prime Minister call both the chief ministers and sort out the problems."

The octogenarian leader, Devi Lal, said when he was Deputy Prime Minister in the short-lived Chandrashekhar government, it had been ordered that the construction of the Punjab portion of the SYL canal be handed over to the Border Roads Organisation (BRO). Mr Devi Lal still feels that BRO should construct the Punjab portion of the SYL because Mr Badal's political rivals like Gurcharan Singh Tohra and Simranjit Singh Mann may obstruct the project.

Indian Youth Congress president, Randeep Surjewala, also favours a separate high court of Haryana but not at Chandigarh. Instead, it could be located, as in interim arrangement, in the judicial complex in Hissar or in the mini secretariats at Jind, Panipat or Rohtak, he says. Once Haryana has its own capital, the high court can be shifted there, he adds. He wants Haryana to immediately move out most of its offices from Chandigarh and Panchkula.

Veteran state BJP leader, Ram Bilas Sharma, however, warns that in the political war of wits on the issue of the high court and the capital, the Chautala government may lose sight of the completion SYL.Reacting to Justice Tewetia's statement regarding Chandigarh, Mr Chautala said that: "Haryana would never give up its claim on Chandigarh till 105 Hindi-speaking villages of Abohar-Fazilka are transferred to Haryana and funds for building the state's own capital are released in advance." He said: "All inter-state tangles must be resolved simultaneously." He reiterated that that creation of a separate high court of Haryana is bound to weaken Haryana's case on Chandigarh."