Govt failure to lodge Mahadayi panel members frustrates SC

The Supreme Court has expressed its exasperation over the government’s failure to provide residential accommodation for chairman and members of a tribunal, set up to resolve dispute on sharing of river Mahadayi  water between Karnataka, Goa and Maharashtra.

A bench of Justices R M Lodha and A R Dave issued notice to Urban Development Ministry, directing its Secretary to file an affidavit within 4 weeks with details of type VII and VIII bungalows available in general pool accommodation as on October one.

“Each tribunal is finding it difficult to function. This has happened with Green Tribunal, now it is happening with water dispute tribunal,” the bench said.

The court showed its displeasure after Additional Solicitor General H P Raval submitted that the Urban Development Ministry had raised objection over the rules framed by Water Resources Ministry, making it necessary for the government to provide accommodation to inter-state water dispute tribunal chairman and members.

“We are amazed that under the garb of some policy, the chairman and members are deprived of government accommodation,” the court said.

Raval said that he was in touch with government and has sent a note for reconsidering the earlier policy of not providing any residential accommodation from general pool accommodation and it was likely to be taken by the Cabinet in next meeting.

This led the court to observe, “How long can you sleep? You want the court to wake you up from the slumber.”

“If this is the situation, God help the country,” the court said, adding, the government itself was making the tribunal non-functional by its act.

The court said no policy or rules of the central government can override or ignore the Constitutional and statutory provisions vis-à-vis the tribunal.

“Rules framed under Section 13 of the Inter-state River Water Disputes Tribunal, 1956 as amended cannot be overridden by the policy of the central government stating that tribunals chairman and members etc are not eligible for allotment under general pool accommodation,” the bench said.

The court seemingly was not happy with a letter written by directorate of estate to Water Resources Ministry on April 20 stating as per the policy, tribunal chairman and members were not eligible for general pool accommodation.

The bench pointed out that it had already been held in Cauvery dispute case, that the water tribunal constituted under the statute would have entire judicial power of the state as vested in the Supreme Court.

Advocate A Subhashini, appearing for Goa, pointed out that the Mahadayi River tribunal had just one sitting on September 6. The court was hearing an interim application filed by Goa, pointing out that unavailability of accommodation had affected the functioning of the tribunal headed by former SC judge Justice J M Panchal as chairman.

The tribunal, also comprising Justices Vinay Mittal, former Madhya Pradesh High Court judge P S Narayana and former Andhra Pradesh HC judge as members, is to hold the next hearing on the matter on October 8.