Article 262 and the Jurisdictional Framework of Water Disputes in India

It allows for the resolution of disputes regarding inter-state river waters. It specifies that:

• The Parliament has the authority to legislate for the resolution of any disagreements or complaints regarding the utilization, allocation, and management of waters from any inter-state river and its valley.
• Additionally, Parliament can legislate to ensure that neither the Supreme Court nor any other courts have jurisdiction over such disputes or complaints. 

In line with this, Parliament has enacted two laws to address inter-state river water disputes:

Inter-State River Governance Under the River Boards Act, 1956

• Objective: It establishes river boards tasked with the management and development of inter-state rivers and their valleys. These boards offer advice to government entities concerned with matters related to the regulation or development of the specified inter-state river or valley as designated by the Central government.
• Formation: A river board may be formed by the central government upon the request of the relevant state governments. Different boards can be created for various inter-state rivers or river valleys.
• Composition: The Board will comprise a Chairman and other members appointed by the Central Government who possess specialized knowledge and experience in areas such as irrigation, electrical engineering, flood management, navigation, water preservation, soil conservation, administration, or finance.
• Nature of the body: The boards perform a variety of functions that include the conservation of water resources in the inter-state river, irrigation and drainage development, hydro-electric power generation, soil erosion control, and pollution prevention, among others. Despite their functions, these bodies are advisory in nature and do not have the power to adjudicate.

Resolving Water Disputes: The Inter-State River Water Dispute Act, 1956

• Objective: It empowers the central government to establish an ad-hoc tribunal for resolving disputes among two or more states concerning the waters of an inter-state river or river valley. 
• Procedure: According to the act, a concerned State government must submit a request to the Central government. The Central government will only refer the issue to the Tribunal if it believes that the disagreement cannot be settled through negotiation. 
• Power of Tribunal: Once the Central Government refers the case, the Tribunal examines the situation and generates a report that includes its decision. This decision is then published and is conclusive and binding on the involved parties. 
• Jurisdiction: The jurisdiction of the Supreme Court and other courts is restricted regarding any dispute that has been referred to the Tribunal. The Central Government is authorized to formulate a scheme encompassing all matters necessary to implement the Tribunal’s decision. 

To date, the central government has constituted nine tribunals for inter-state water disputes, but their performance has been inadequate. As of 2022, four inter-state water dispute tribunals are operational in the country. These are:

Challenges in Resolution of Inter State River Water Disputes in India 

• Delayed awards: There is no stipulated timeframe within which the tribunal must deliver its verdict. For example, the Cauvery water tribunal issued its ruling after a span of after 17 years. This not only impacts the peaceful resolution of the dispute but also provides the political parties to politicise the issue leading to rise of regionalism in the country. 
• Judicial interference: The tribunal’s ruling is definitive and must be complied with. However, the supreme court has taken a liberal interpretation of Article 136 (Special Leave Petition) under which the award can be challenged. This use of Special leave petition further delays the resolution of Inter-State river disputes.
• Composition of Tribunal: The Tribunals were composed of only Judicial members. Hence, it lacked multidisciplinary character and technical expertise. This led to trust deficit among states especially because the awards were given based on judicial wisdom and ground reality was not properly taken into account.
• Lack of Hydrological Data: Due to poor and inefficient collection of hydrological data of the area, the division of water among states often lacks scientific reasoning. This leads to decisions being made in absence of complete information and hence leads to implementation delays. 
• Politicisation of water issue: The politicisation of the water sharing dispute has been giving  leverage to regional parties. There is hence a lack of political will to solve the inter – state water dispute 

To solve the above challenges the government has proposed the Inter-State River Water Disputes (Amendment) bill 2019.

Inter-State River Water Disputes (Amendment) Bill,2019

Under the 1956 Act, a state government has the option to ask the central government to refer an inter-state river dispute to a tribunal for resolution. If the central government believes that the conflict cannot be resolved through discussion, it is obligated to form a Water Disputes Tribunal for adjudicating the issue within a year of receiving the request. The 2019 Bill proposes to change this process. Key provisions of the Bill include:

Disputes Resolution Committee:

• Formation: Central government will set up a Disputes Resolution Committee (DRC), to resolve the dispute amicably after it receives a request from a state regarding any water dispute.
• Composition: The DRC  nominated by the central government will comprise a Chairperson, and experts with at least 15 years of experience in relevant sectors.  It will also comprise one member from each state (at Joint Secretary level) nominated by the concerned state government, who are party to the dispute. 
• Resolution of disputes: The DRC is required to solve the dispute through negotiations, within 1 year (extendable by six months) and submit its report to the Central government. 
• Provision in case of failure to resolve a dispute: In case of failure to settle the dispute the central government should refer the matter to Inter state river water dispute tribunal within three months. 

Permanent Inter state water dispute tribunal :

• Formation: All existing Tribunals will be dissolved and the central government will set up a single Inter-State River Water Dispute Tribunal, for the adjudication of water disputes. This Tribunal can have multiple benches. 
• Composition: The Tribunal will consist of a Chairperson, Vice-Chairperson, three judicial members, and three expert members.  They will be appointed by the central government based on recommendations from a Selection Committee. 

Fixed time limit for tribunal award:

• Time limit: The proposed Tribunal must give its decision on the dispute within two years, which may be extended by another year, while earlier the time limit was three years and extendable by another two years. 
• Reference by state:  If the matter is again referred to the Tribunal by a state for further consideration, the Tribunal must submit its report to the central government within a period of one year. This period may be extended by the central government for an additional six months.

Decision of the Tribunal:

• Binding decisions: The decision of the Bench of the Tribunal will be final and binding on the parties involved in the dispute. Also the requirement of publishing the award in the official gazette by the central government has been done away with. 
• Scheme for implementation: It also makes it mandatory for the central government to devise a scheme for implementation of the tribunal award. 

Data bank:

• Maintenance of Data bank: The Central government has to authorise or appoint an agency to maintain a data bank and information system at the national level for each river basin. 

The decision to set up a permanent inter state water dispute tribunal and appointment of an agency to maintain river basin data is a step forward in the right direction. However, it is crucial to arrest the narrow regional interest which has become a major obstacle in resolving the water challenge and adversely impacts the inter state relations and working of the federation.