9911796707
TMI Blog1991 (4) TMI 449X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... anuary 5, 1991. As identical questions of law arise in these cases, we would state the facts of C.M.P filed by the Government of Tamil Nadu. The Government of Tamil Nadu filed a complaint dated 6th July 1986 on the ground that the interests of the State of Tamil Nadu and of its inhabitants (particularly the farmers in the Cauvery Delta) had been and is prejudiciously and injuriously affected by the executive action taken and proposed to be taken by the upper riparian State of Karnataka and by the failure of that State to implement the terms of the agreements relating to the use, distribution and control of the waters of river Cauvery. The said complaint was made to the Central Government under Section 3 of the Inter State Water Dispute Act, 1956 (hereinafter referred to as the Act). The Central Government by Notification dated 2.6.1990 constituted the Cauvery Water Disputes Tribunal and passed the following order of reference: No.21/1/90-WD Government of India (Bharat Sarkar) Ministry of Water Resources (Jal Sansadhan Mantralaya) New Delhi, 2nd June, 1990. REFERENCE In the exercise of the powers conferred by subsection (1) of Section 5, of the Inter- ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... e objection raised on behalf of the State of Karnataka, and State of Kerala and as a result of which by its order dated January 5, 1991 ordered that the Tribunal cannot entertain the applications for the grant interim reliefs and the C.M.P. Nos. 4,5 and 9 were held to be not maintainable in law and as such dismissed. Aggrieved against the aforesaid order of the Tribunal these appeals have been filed by the State of Tamilnadu and the Union Territory of Pondicherry. Dr. Y.S. Chitale, appearing on behalf of the respondent, State of Karnataka raised an objection that this Court had no jurisdiction to entertain any appeal against the impugned order of the Tribunal. It was submitted that Article 262 of the Constitution clearly provided that in respect of adjudication of disputes relating to waters of Inter State rivers has to be decided by law made by Parliament in this regard. Clause (2) of Article 262 further provided that Parliament may by law provide that neither the Supreme Court nor any other Court shall exercise jurisdiction in respect of any such dispute or complaint as is referred to in Clause (1), notwithstanding anything contained in this Constitution. It was submitted that ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... any such dispute or complaint as is referred to in clause(1). Section 11: Notwithstanding anything contained in any other law, neither the Supreme Court nor any other court shall have or exercise jurisdiction in respect of any water dispute which may be referred to a Tribunal under this Act. A perusal of the above provisions leaves no manner of doubt that notwithstanding anything in the Constitution, Parliament is authorised by law to provide that neither the Supreme Court nor any other Court shall exercise jurisdiction in respect of any dispute or complaint relating to the use, distribution or control of the waters of, or in, any inter-State river or river valley. The dispute referred by the Central Government to the Tribunal under the Act relates to the above controversy and as such this Court has no jurisdiction to decide the merits of the dispute raised by the appellants and pending before the Tribunal. The controversy, however raised by the appellants in these appeals is that they had submitted the applications before the Tribunal for granting interim relief on the ground of emergency till the final disposal of the dispute and the Tribunal wrongly held that it had no ju ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... en do not bring out relevant circumstances but indulge in empty and self-defeating affidavits. They do not and they cannot bind Parliament. Validity of legislation is not to be judged merely by affidavits filed on behalf of the State, but by all the relevant circumstances which the Court may ultimately find and more especially by what may be gathered from what the legislature has itself said. We have mentioned the facts as found by us and we do not think that there has been any infringement of the right guaranteed by Art. 14 . In Kehar Singh and Anr. v. Union of India and Anr., [1989] 1 SCC 204 at p. 214, this Court observed as under: In the course of argument, the further question raised was whether judicial review extends to an examination of the order passed by President under Art. 72 of the Constitution. At the outset we think it should be clearly understood that we are confined to the question as to the area and scope of the President s power and not with the question whether it has been truly exercised on the merits. Indeed, we think that the order of the President cannot be subjected to judicial review on its merits except within the strict limitations defined ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... nherent powers to grant the interim relief, otherwise petitioners shall be left with no remedy for the enforcement of their rights. The Tribunal examined the scheme of the Act after adverting to the provisions of Sections 3 to 6-A of the Act held that this Act was a complete code in so far as the reference of a dispute is concerned. The Tribunal was authorised to decide only the water dispute or disputes which have been referred to it. If the Central Government was of the opinion that there was any other matter connected with or relevant to the water dispute which had already been referred to the Tribunal, it was always open to the Central Government to refer also the said matter as a dispute to the Tribunal constituted under Section 4 of the Act. The Tribunal further held as under: The interim reliefs which had been sought for even if the same are connected with or relevant to the water dispute already referred cannot be considered because the disputes in respect of the said matters have not been referred by the Central Government to the Tribunal. Further, neither there is any averment in these petitions that the dispute related to interim relief cannot be settled b ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... r held that the Tribunal will have the power to pass such consequential order as are required to be made while deciding the said dispute and will also have incidental and ancillary powers which will make the decision of the reference effective but these power are to be exercised only to enable it to decide the reference effectively but not to decide disputes not referred including a dispute in regard to grant of interim relief/interim reliefs. The Tribunal also adverted to the provisions of Sections 9 and 13 of the Act as well as inter- State Water Disputes Rules, 1959 and held that these provisions were also indicative of the fact that the Tribunal had no power to grant any interim relief of the nature asked for. It was observed in this regard that in case intention of Parliament was that the Tribunal may be able to grant any interim relief without the dispute being referred to the Tribunal, it would have either provided such powers in the Act itself or in the rules framed under the Act, but this has not been done. As regards the second submission the Tribunal held that it was wrong to contend that the State of Tamilnadu was left with no remedy available to it, because it was o ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... lands and crops even in the single crop lands are withering and falling for want of adequate wettings at crucial times. We are convinced that the inordinate delay in solving the dispute is taken advantage of by the Government of Karnataka in extending their canal systems and their ayacut in the new projects and every day of delay in adding to the injury caused to our existing irrigation. The above passage clearly goes to show that the State of Tamilnadu was claiming for an immediate relief as year after year, the realisations at Mettur was falling fast and thousands of acres in their ayacut in the basin were forced to remain fallow. It was specifically mentioned that the inordinate delay in solving the dispute is taken advantage of by the Government of Karnataka in extending their canal systems and their ayacut in the new projects and every day of delay is adding to the injury caused to their existing irrigation. The Tribunal was thus clearly wrong in holding that the Central Government had not made any reference for granting any interim relief. We are not concerned, whether the appellants are entitled or not, for any interim relief on merits, but we are clearly of the view th ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X
|
