Chandigarh, May 15 -- The Punjab and Haryana high court on Wednesday sought response from the Union and Haryana governments as well as the Bhakra Beas Management Board (BBMB) on a plea from the Punjab government, seeking recall of a May 6 court order that directed the state to allow the release additional 4,500 cusecs of water from the Bhakra dam for meeting the emergent needs of Haryana. "The court has issued notice for May 20," senior advocate and former advocate general Gurminder Singh, who appeared for Punjab, said after the hearing. On May 6, the high court directed Punjab not to interfere with the functioning of BBMB - a central body that manages and regulates water in Bhakra, Pong and Ranjit Sagar dams - and to abide by the Union home secretary's May 2 decision asking the board to release additional 4,500 cusecs of water to Haryana. Punjab's plea, filed on Monday, contended that the May 6 high court order was "illegal as the court was misled into believing" that the meeting held under the chairmanship of the Union home secretary on May 2 was conducted under Rule 7 of the BBMB rules, 1974, which requires a reference made by the board's chairman on the water-sharing issue. "The direction in question was passed on account of concealment of material facts by non-applicant parties in the writ petition who have failed to bring true and correct facts to the notice of the court," the plea alleged. The Punjab government has contended that the Union power secretary is the competent authority to deal with disputes around water sharing under the BBMB Act, and not the Union home secretary. The formal minutes of the May 2 meeting were not recorded, and only a press note was produced which, the plea alleged, formed the basis of the "misleading information" that led to the May 6 court order. The order had come on a BBMB plea seeking the withdrawal of additional police deployment at Nangal dam, which it said was "illegal and unconstitutional", and alleged it was being prevented from complying with the Centre'sdirections. The controversy dates back to April 28 when Haryana demanded 8,500 cusecs of water from the Bhakra dam, which was approved by BBMB. However, Punjab refused to accept the decision and deployed police at the Nangal dam, 13km downstream from Bhakra, to stop the additional water release. Punjab has maintained that Haryana has already overdrawn its water quota and was "demanding irrigation water under the guise of drinking needs". Chief minister Bhagwant Mann on Wednesday hailed the high court orders, terming it a moral victory. Addressing a gathering in Ludhiana, Mann said that the court has sought a reply from all the stakeholders on May 20. "On May 21, the fresh cycle for water sharing will start and Haryana will start getting its share," Mann said, during a function here on Wednesday. "We have been able to defend our share of water despite all the pressure exerted by the Centre, Haryana and BBMB," the CM said. This is a huge win for the state, he added....