New Delhi: The Union government which has lost the case in the Supreme Court on the much hyped case of Mahanadi has more reasons to blame its own admissions on the failure of the negotiation process.
The Union government, during the last few hearings in the apex court, had been adhering to its stand that the negotiation process had not failed and the whole inter-state river water sharing problem should be solved through negotiations and claimed in the court (even Tuesday) that the time has not come to form a tribunal as the process of negotiation has not been exhausted.
The Union government said in the court Tuesday: “We want the chief ministers of both the states come together for a meeting with the Union government; and even if after the meeting they feel aggrieved they can demand for a tribunal,”
When the Orissa government showed the documents regarding the Union government’s admission that the negotiation process had failed to the apex court, the case seemed to go in favour of the Orissa government.It may be recalled the Union Minister of State for Water Resources and River Development Sanjeev Balyan had accepted the failure of the negotiation process in both houses of Parliament.
The Union government had in its arguments cited Section-4 of the Inter-State River Water Disputes Act which asks for formation of a tribunal after receiving such request from the state after the Centre ‘reaches an opinion’ that the negotiation process has failed. The Centre had kept emphasising that such opinion had not been formed yet. However, after the minister’s reply was discussed, the bench asked the Union government, “You can’t deny the minister’s statement unless you are debating on the veracity of the statement. The minister has on record made the statement.”
The bench later relied on the minister’s statement made in Parliament twice mentioning the failure of the negotiation process (a pre-requisite for formation of a tribunal) and ordered its formation. Balyan in a statement in Rajya Sabha July 31, 2017 had said, “… the ministry concluded that the dispute cannot be resolved by negotiation and it has been decided to constitute a tribunal for adjudication of the dispute. Draft Cabinet Note in this regard has been prepared.” Similarly, the same statement was made in Lok Sabha August 10, 2017.
Manish Kumar, OP
