The Hindu : New Delhi News : ‘Krishna tribunal tenure till February’

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‘Krishna tribunal tenure till February’

J. Venkatesan

New Delhi: The Centre on Wednesday informed the Supreme Court that the three-year tenure of the Krishna Water Disputes Tribunal to adjudicate the row among Karnataka, Maharashtra and Andhra Pradesh must be deemed to have commenced from February 1, 2006.

Additional Solicitor-General Gopal Subramanian gave this information to a three-judge Bench of Justice B.N. Agrawal, Justice G.S. Singhvi and Justice H.L. Dattu, which is hearing a writ petition from Karnataka for a declaration that the tribunal be deemed to have been set up only from the date on which it started functioning and not from the date of notification of its constitution.

The tribunal, notified on April 2, 2004, did not commence functioning for over two-and-a-half years for lack of infrastructure. As it started functioning in August 2006, the three-year tenure must be reckoned only from this day, Karnataka contended.

Karnataka said the question of law raised in this petition was the interpretation of Sections 5 (1) and 5 (2) of the Inter-State Water Disputes Act. “As worded, it appears to mandate the decision being given in all matters referred to it within three years from the date of reference with powers to the Central Government to extend the period for further years.”

The Centre did not agree with Karnataka’s stand that the three-year period should commence from the date the tribunal began functioning and said that as per the statute it was expected to complete investigation within three years of its constitution. In view of the Centre’s stand, the Bench disposed of the writ petition.

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