The Supreme Court on Wednesday part-heard a challenge to a 2023 notification making a further reference under the Inter-State River Water Disputes Act in relation to the Krishna river water sharing dispute between Telangana and Andhra Pradesh.
Senior counsel appearing for the petitioner argued that the fresh reference is unconstitutional and contrary to the scheme of the Andhra Pradesh Reorganisation Act, 2014 (APRA), which already provides a mechanism for the division of Krishna waters between the two successor states.
The Krishna Water Disputes Tribunal (KWDT-I), in the 1970s, allocated waters among Maharashtra, Karnataka and the then undivided Andhra Pradesh on the basis of 75% dependable flow. Andhra Pradesh was allocated 800 TMC (later calculated at 811 TMC including return flows).
A second tribunal (KWDT-II) was later constituted for review. While it reassessed flows, its award has not been notified and remains under challenge before the Supreme Court.
In 2014, Andhra Pradesh was bifurcated into Telangana and Andhra Pradesh under the Andhra Pradesh Reorganisation Act (APRA). Section 89 of the Act provided a specific mechanism for apportioning the Krishna waters allocated to the undivided State between the two successor States.
A reference under APRA was accordingly initiated before the tribunal. The petitioner argued that while proceedings under APRA were nearing final hearing, the Centre issued a fresh notification in October 6, 2023, making an additional reference under the general Inter-State River Water Disputes Act. The challenge is directed at this “further reference”. The Counsel contended that:
• The Andhra Pradesh Reorganisation Act (APRA) provides a complete statutory mechanism for dividing the 811 TMC allocated to the erstwhile Andhra Pradesh.
• Maharashtra and Karnataka have already been excluded from the APRA reference, and that issue has attained finality.
• The fresh reference under the central statute undermines the scheme of APRA and is therefore unconstitutional.
He submitted that the dispute now is confined only to the division of the allocated share between Telangana and Andhra Pradesh:“We are only now talking about the division of waters between Telangana and Andhra Pradesh.”
It was contended that the subsequent executive reference under the central Act undermines the APRA framework.
After hearing part submissions, the Bench of Chief Justice of India, Justice Surya Kant,Justice Joymalya Bagchi, and Justice Vipul M. Pancholi has listed the matter for Next Wednesday.