Supreme Court refuses to stay proceedings of KWDT-II, gives time for Centre, Telangana to file counter
A supreme court bench heard the matter on WP 1230 where Andhra Pradesh sought for stay on the proceedings of the KWDT-II
- Telangana
NewsTAP Bureau- Updated On:7 Nov 2023 11:10 AM GMT
NEW DELHI: The proceedings of Krishna Water Disputes Tribunal (KWDT)-II aimed at improving Telangana’s share of Krishna River water will continue as scheduled on November 22, with the Supreme Court refusing to stay the proceedings as urged by the Andhra Pradesh Government.
A supreme court bench consisting of Justices Suryakanth and Dipankar Dutta heard the matter on WP 1230 where Andhra Pradesh sought for stay on the proceedings of the KWDT-II given the further Terms of Reference (ToR) by Union of India through a gazette notification dated October 6, 2023.
Sr. Counsel on behalf of the State of Telangana C.S. Vaidyanathan, submitted that the disputes raised by Andhra Pradesh would come under the purview of Article 262 wherein the Water Disputes Tribunal was empowered to decide on the water disputes. He also submitted that the Writ Petition filed under Article 32 was not maintainable. AP should have filed the petition under Article 131.
Justice Suryakanth stated Telangana and the Union of India could file their preliminary objections in Counter Affidavit.
Sr Advocate Jaideep Gupta, on behalf of AP, argued that presently, the merits of the case should not be argued and wanted a stay in the proceedings of the Tribunal given the Writ Petition. At this juncture counsel on behalf of the Union of India also wanted a week to submit their views. He submitted that the very formation of Telangana was seeking an equitable share of river waters. He further submitted that he is ready to argue the matter on its merits, therefore, no need to give a stay on the proceedings of KWDT-II.
Given this, the Bench gave two weeks to file the counter affidavit on behalf of Telangana and the Union of India. The Bench also directed that the Tribunal may continue its proceedings subject to the outcome of the Writ Petition.
The matter was posted on November 29, 2023, tagging along with Special Leave Petitions (SLP) filed challenging the KWDT-II decision, and SLP no. 24133 of 2023 filed by AP challenging the KWDT-II order dt. 20.09.23 on the reallocation of water to Palamuru Rangareddy Lift Irrigation Scheme (PRLIS).
