Krishna Water Disputes Tribunal to hear arguments from May 15, refuses to extend timeframe for AP

HYDERABAD: The Krishna Water Disputes Tribunal (KWDT)-II has refused to accept the plea of the Andhra Pradesh (AP) Government for an extension to submit a Statment of Case (SoC) and counter-argument about its claims on sharing of Krishna water with Telangana.

The KWDT-II chairman Justice Brijesh Kumar, members Justice Ram Mohan Reddy, and Justice S Talapatra in New Delhi on Monday directed Andhra to submit the SoC by April 29 and counters by both the states by two weeks thereafter. The next hearing would be from May 15-May 17, 2024. While CS Vaidyanathan presented the Telangana's argument, Jayadeep Guptha submitted the arguments on behalf of Andhra.

At KWDT-II, Telangana submitted its SoC on March 20 as per the time limit stipulated by the KWDT-II. However, Andhra Pradesh could not submit the SoC by that date, and on April 4, AP submitted an Interim Application (IA) for an extension of time till June end for submission of its Statement of case. Following this, the Telangana side filed a counter to the IA of Andhra Pradesh.

The main argument of Andhra Pradesh was that since the Model Code of Conduct (MCC) was imposed in the State they could not file the SOC which declared policy decisions. And sought for time till June end by which time the results would be declared.

Telangana vehemently opposed stating it was only a delaying tactic. They were aware of the elections as early as late December, the counsel argued. Pieces of evidence were produced from Govt of AP orders and the Election Commission of India proceedings.

"The Code of Conduct does not bar filing pleadings in pending cases and even Telangana is facing Lok Sabha Elections but has not violated the Code of Conduct by filing its SOC on March 20, 2024 itself," the counsel said.

After hearing both sides, the Tribunal refused to accept the argument of AP based on the model code of conduct and gave orders directing the State of AP to file the SoC within three weeks and both States are to file their replies within two weeks thereafter.