SC stays Uttarakhand HC's order declaring river Ganga, Yamuna as living entity

The Supreme Court on Friday stayed the Uttarakhand High Court's order declaring river Ganga and Yamuna as a juristic person and a living entity.

The Uttarakhand government had last month moved the Supreme Court challenging an Uttarakhand High Court order granting rivers Ganga, Yamuna and their tributaries the status of living human entities.

In a landmark judgement on March 20, the high court had accorded the status of living human entities to the Ganga and Yamuna, two of India's most ancient rivers and their tributaries.

Seeking a stay on the March 20 order of the high court through a Special Leave Petition, the state government has urged the apex court to consider "substantial questions of law" arising from the verdict.

The petition questions whether in case of human casualties in a flood, the affected people can file suit for damages against the chief secretary of the state and whether state government would be liable to bear such financial burden.

The petition also questions whether the high court had not exceeded its writ jurisdiction in passing the order as granting the status of living entities to the rivers was neither pleaded nor prayed in the writ petition.