Supreme Court orders constitution of tribunal to settle Pennaiyar River water dispute between TN and Karnataka

The Supreme Court on Monday ordered the Central government to notify the constitution of a tribunal to settle a dispute between Tamil Nadu and Karnataka over sharing of water flowing from the inter-state Pennaiyar/Dakshina Pinakini River [The State of Tamil Nadu v. The State of Karnataka and anr]..The Bench of Justices Vikram Nath and NV Anjaria has added that such steps must be taken within a month."We find no reason to refrain from directing the Central government to issue an appropriate notification in the official gazette and to constitute a water disputes tribunal for the adjudication of the inter-state water dispute between the parties herein within a period of one month from today," the Court said. .The case concerns a dispute over the sharing of water from the Pennaiyar River, which is referred to as Dakshina Pinakini in Kannada.The Tamil Nadu government had filed an original suit in the matter before the Supreme Court in 2018 against the Karnataka government and the Central government.Tamil Nadu has claimed that decisions taken by the Karnataka government with respect to the upstream part of the river have prejudicially affected how water flows to Tamil Nadu, located in the downstream area of the river.Whereas the Centre had earlier suggested that the issues be resolved through ministerial meetings between the two States, Tamil Nadu pressed for the constitution of a tribunal to settle the matter..In November 2022, the Court pulled up the Centre for a delay in resolving the dispute through negotiations. Prior to this, in January 2019, the Court had allowed the State of Tamil Nadu to seek the constitution of the tribunal to solve the vexed issue. In May, the Supreme Court granted another time extension for this purpose.In 2023, the Union Jal Shakti Ministry had informed the apex court that the Union Cabinet has not yet taken a final call on the proposal to form a Pennaiyar Water Disputes Tribunal, although the proposal has been sent for approval via the Cabinet Secretariat. The Court had reserved its verdict in the case in December 2025. Senior Advocates V Krishnamoorthy and P Wilson represented the Tamil Nadu government. .Tamil Nadu and Karnataka have had similar disputes over the Cauvery River as well.In February 2018, the Supreme Court passed its verdict in this Cauvery dispute case, while observing that water bodies are national assets and that no one State could claim exclusive rights over them..[Read Live Coverage].Follow Bar and Bench channel on WhatsAppDownload the Bar and Bench Mobile app for instant access to the latest legal news.