HYDERABAD: With the Supreme Court allowing Telangana to withdraw its case, filed in 2015 under Section 3 of the Interstate River Water Disputes Act, the legal hurdle in referring Krishna river water disputes between Telangana and Andhra Pradesh has been cleared and the Central government can now refer the long-pending complaint of Telangana to a tribunal.A three-member bench of the apex court on Wednesday disposed of the application filed in June, 2021 by Telangana, to allow it to withdraw its earlier case. Now, the ball is in the Centre’s court, which has to refer the issue to a tribunal as assured by Jal Shakti Minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat during the second Apex Council meeting held on October 6, 2020.
“We are happy that Telangana’s path has been cleared for getting a fair share of waters,” Rajat Kumar, Special Chief Secretary of Irrigation, told Express. Sources in the Irrigation Department said that the Centre would now consult legal experts on whether to constitute a new tribunal or give fresh terms of reference (ToR) to the Brijesh Kumar Tribunal. In either case, only one tribunal would hear the water disputes between AP and TS, sources explained.
The sources also stated that the State government would write to the Centre in the next two to three days with a request to refer the issue to a tribunal. During the Apex Council meeting, Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao urged the Jal Shakti Minister to refer the Krishna water disputes to the tribunal and to make fresh water allocations between the sibling States in Krishna river.The Union Minister had said that since Telangana’s case was pending in the apex court, the Centre could not take a decision and asked the State to withdraw the case.
Now, the Telangana government withdrew the case, pushing the ball into Centre’s court with a rider that if the Centre fails to refer the matter to a tribunal, the State would again approach the court.Incidentally, the apex court allowed TS to withdraw the case on October 6, exactly one year after the Apex Council meeting. The sources in Irrigation Department told Express that now the coast is clear for the Central government to refer the TS’ complaint to a tribunal under Section 3 of ISRWD Act 1956.
Will Centre form a new tribunal?
Official sources said that the Centre would now consult legal experts on whether to constitute a new tribunal or give fresh terms of reference to the Brijesh Kumar Tribunal. The sources also said that the State govt would write to the Centre with a request to refer the issue to a tribunal