NEW DELHI: The Karnataka government on Friday urged the Supreme Court to set up a bench to hear a plea relating to the dispute among the neighbouring states of Karnataka, Maharashtra, Telangana, and Andhra Pradesh on the allocation of Krishna River water.
A bench of Chief Justice NV Ramana, Justices AS Bopanna and Hima Kohli said it will consider setting up the bench for the case. “We will look into this,” the CJI said after senior advocate Shyam Divan, appearing for Karnataka, mentioned the matter for setting up of the bench after bench of Justice DY Chandrachud, hailing from Maharashtra, and Justice AS Bopanna, who belongs to Karnataka, had on January 10 recused from the case.
CJI also inquired whether the parties can amicably settle the dispute. Divan replied that the main issue would require adjudication from the bench itself and some of the ancillary matters may be settled.
The dispute is over the allocation of water of the Krishana river, flowing in states of Maharashtra, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, and Telangana.
In the top court, Karnataka had sought the vacation of its November 16, 2011 order that restrained the Central government from publishing in the official gazette the final order of the Krishna Water Disputes Tribunal II (KWDT) pronounced in 2010, allocating the river water to Karnataka, erstwhile Andhra Pradesh and Maharashtra.
The tribunal had also modified its final order and report on November 29, 2013 to allot surplus water to Karnataka, Maharashtra, and the erstwhile State of Andhra Pradesh.