 bill no 187 of 2019 the inter-state river water disputes (amendment) bill, 2019 a billfurther to amend the inter-state river water disputes act, 1956be it enacted by parliament in the seventieth year of the republic of india as follows:—short title and commencement1 (1) this act may be called the inter-state river water disputes (amendment)act, 20195(2) it shall come into force on such date as the central government may, by notification in the official gazette, appoint33 of 1956amendment of section 22 in the inter-state river water disputes act, 1956 (hereinafter referred to as the principal act), in section 2,—(i) for clause (a), the following clauses shall be substituted, namely:—'(a) "chairperson" means the chairperson of the inter-state river water disputes tribunal referred to in section 4b;10(aa) "existing tribunal" means a water disputes tribunal constituted prior to the date of commencement of the inter-state river water disputes (amendment) act, 2019;(ab) "member" includes a judicial member and expert member of the tribunal;(ac) "notification" means a notification published in the official gazette; (ad) "prescribed" means prescribed by rules made under this act;';5(ii) for clause (b), the following clauses shall be substituted, namely:––'(b) "tribunal" means the inter-state river water disputes tribunal established under section 4;(ba) "vice-chairperson" means the vice-chairperson of the tribunal referred to in section 4b;'103 for section 4 of the principal act, the following sections shall be substituted, namely:—substitution of new  sections 4, 4a, 4b, 4c, 4d and 4e for section 415'4 with effect from such date as the central government may, by notification, appoint, there shall be established a tribunal, to be called the inter-state river water disputes tribunal, for the adjudication of water disputes:establishment of inter-state river water disputes tribunal20provided that on and from the date of establishment of the tribunal, all existing tribunals shall stand dissolved and the water disputes pending adjudication before such existing tribunals shall stand transferred to the tribunal:25provided further that any person holding office as the chairman or a member of the existing tribunals, shall on the dissolution of the existing tribunals, cease to hold office as such chairman or member, as the case may be, from the date of such dissolution, but shall, subject to the provisions of this act, be eligible for re-appointment:provided also that a dispute which has already been adjudicated and settled by an existing tribunal prior to the date of commencement of the inter-state river water disputes (amendment) act, 2019 shall not be re-opened30disputes resolution committee4a (1) as and when any request under section 3 is received from any state government in respect of any water dispute, the central government shall set up a disputes resolution committee, for resolving the dispute amicably(2) the disputes resolution committee shall consist of—35(a) a chairperson, who is or has been an officer of the central government of the rank of the secretary to the government of india or equivalent having experience in water sector, to be nominated by the central government;40(b) such expert members, as may be considered necessary, who are persons of ability, integrity and standing and having special qualifications and professional experience of not less than fifteen years in water sector, agriculture or such other fields as the central government may consider necessary, to be nominated by the central government; and(c) one member, each to represent the states which are party to the dispute, to be nominated by the state government concerned from officers of that government not below the rank of joint secretary to the government of india45(3) the disputes resolution committee shall try to resolve a water dispute by negotiations within a period of one year which may be extended to a further period of six months and submit its report to the central government(4) the report submitted by the disputes resolution committee shall contain details of––(a) the stand taken by each state which are party to the dispute duringnegotiation;5(b) the views of members of the committee on such stand; and (c) all relevant facts, information and data relating thereto(5) any water dispute which cannot be settled by negotiations shall be referred by the central government, by notification, to the tribunal for its adjudication within a period of three months from the date of receipt of the report under sub-section (3)10composition of tribunal4b (1) subject to the provisions of section 12, the tribunal shall consist of a chairperson, a vice-chairperson, and not more than three judicial members and three expert members to be appointed by the central government on the recommendation of the selection committee(2) the selection committee referred to in sub-section (1) shall consist of—15(a) the prime minister or any other minister nominated by him—chairperson;(b) the chief justice of india or a judge of the supreme court nominated by him—member;(c) the minister in charge of the ministry dealing with the law and justice—member; and20(d) the minister in charge of the ministry of jal shakti—member(3) a person shall not be eligible for appointment—(a) as the chairperson or vice-chairperson unless he is, or has been, a judge of the supreme court or a chief justice of the high court;25(b) as the judicial member unless he is, or has been, a judge of a high court; and30(c) as the expert member unless he is a person of ability, integrity and standing and having experience in water resources and has been an officer of the central government of the rank of secretary to the government of india or equivalent or is or has been a renowned international or national expert having experience of working in the field of international or inter-state river water disputes:provided that a person who is a sitting judge of the supreme court or a judge of a high court shall be appointed in consultation with the chief justice of india35(4) the selection committee shall recommend a person for appointment as chairperson, vice-chairperson, judicial member or expert member in accordance with such procedure as may be prescribed40(5) no appointment of  the chairperson or vice-chairperson or a member of the tribunal shall be invalid merely by reason of any vacancy or absence of member, or defect in the constitution, of the selection committeeterm of office4c (1) the chairperson and vice-chairperson shall hold office for a period offive years or till the age of seventy years, whichever is earlier45(2) the term of office of other members of the tribunal shall be co-terminus with the adjudication of the water dispute and they shall cease to hold office upon dissolution of the bench under sub-section (2) of section 12:provided that no member shall hold office after he has attained the age of sixty-seven years 4d the central government may remove from office, the chairperson or vice-chairperson or any member, who—removal of members of tribunal(a) has been adjudged an insolvent; or (b) has been convicted of an offence which, in the opinion of the central government, involves moral turpitude; or5(c) has become physically or mentally incapable; or (d) has acquired such financial or other interest as is likely to affect prejudicially his functions; or10(e) has so abused his position as to render his continuance in office prejudicial to the public interest:provided that no chairperson or vice-chairperson or member shall be removed under clause (d) or clause (e) from office unless he has been informed of the charges against him and given an opportunity of being heard in respect of those charges:15provided further that the chairperson or vice-chairperson or judicial member who is a sitting judge shall not be removed from office without consulting the chief justice of india4e (1) subject to other provisions of this act,—benches of tribunal(a) the jurisdiction of the tribunal may be exercised by the benches thereof;20(b) the chairperson may constitute a bench consisting of the chairperson or vice-chairperson as the presiding officer, with one judicial member and one expert member:provided that a member of a bench may also be a member of another bench25(2) the benches of the tribunal shall ordinarily sit at new delhi or at such other places as the chairperson may decide'4 in section 5 of the principal act,—amendment of section 530(a) for sub-sections (1) and (2), the following sub-sections shall be substituted, namely:—"(1) on receipt of a reference in respect of any water dispute from the central government, the chairperson shall assign such dispute to a bench of the tribunal for its adjudication35(2) the bench of the tribunal shall, before investigating the water dispute assigned to it under sub-section (1), take into consideration the report submitted by the disputes resolution committee under sub-section (3) of section 4a on the water dispute or on any matter appearing to be connected with, or relevant to, the water dispute40(2a) the bench of the tribunal shall investigate the water dispute assigned to it under sub-section (1) and forward to the central government its detailed report setting out the facts as found by it including on yield, efficiency in the use of water and such other matters as may be prescribed, and giving its decision on such dispute within a period of  two years:45provided that such report shall also provide for the distribution of water during distress situations arising from shortage in the availability of water in such manner as may be prescribed:provided further that if the report cannot be given within a period of two years for any unavoidable reasons, the central government may extend such period to a further period not exceeding one year"; (b) in sub-section (3),––5(i) for the words "on such reference, the tribunal may", the words "onsuch reference, the bench of the tribunal concerned may" shall be substituted;(ii) for the proviso, the following proviso shall be substituted, namely:—"provided that the central government may extend the period of one year to a further period not exceeding six months"105 for section 5a of the principal act, the following sections shall be substituted, namely:—substitution of new sections 5a, 5b and 5c for section 5aappointment of assessors"5a (1) the central government may appoint two experts serving in the central water engineering service not below the rank of chief engineer as assessors for each water dispute to advise the bench in the proceedings before it:15provided that the assessor so appointed shall not be a domicile to any of the states which are party to the dispute20(2) the term of the assessors appointed under sub-section (1) shall be co-terminus with the adjudication of the dispute and they shall cease to be assessors after the dispute is adjudicated and the final report is forwarded to the central governmentappointment of administrative officer5b the central government shall appoint an administrative officer, not below the rank of joint secretary to the government of india, who shall be responsible for day-to-day administrative work of the tribunal and to act as a nodal officer between the central government and the tribunal25filling of vacancies, temporary absence, etc5c (1) subject to the provisions of this act, if for any reason, a vacancy (otherthan a temporary absence) occurs in the office of the chairperson, vice-chairperson or any other member of the tribunal, such vacancy shall be filled in accordance with section 4b30(2) in the event of the occurrence of any vacancy in the office of the chairperson by reason of his death, resignation or otherwise, the vice-chairperson shall act as the chairperson until the date on which a new chairperson, appointed in accordance with the provisions of this act to fill such vacancy, enters upon his office35(3) when any member of a bench of  the tribunal is unable to discharge his functions owing to absence, illness or any other cause, the chairperson may assign the work of such member to any other member of  the tribunal till such member resumes his work"substitution of section 66 for section 6 of the principal act, the following section shall be substituted, namely:—40"6 the decision of the bench of the tribunal shall be final and binding on theparties to the dispute and shall have the same force as an order or decree of the supreme court"decision of bench of tribunal binding on parties amendment of section 6a7 in section 6a of the principal act, in sub-section (1), for the word "may" occurring at both the places, the word "shall" shall be substitutedsubstitution of section 9a8 for section 9a of the principal act, the following section shall be substituted, namely:––5maintenance of data bank and information"9a (1) the central government shall, for the purposes of maintaining a data bank and information system at the national level for each river basin, appoint or authorise an agency which shall maintain data relating to water resources, land, agriculture and such other matter, containing such particulars and in such manner, as may be prescribed10(2) as and when required by the central government, the state government shall make available the data relating to any of the matters referred to in sub-section (1)to the central government or to the agency appointed or authorised under that sub-section(3) the central government or the agency referred to in sub-section (1) shall have powers to summon and verify any data, record or other relevant information received from the state government"| 15          ||-------------|| section 10 |9 for section 10 of the principal act, the following section shall be substituted, namely:—"10 the salaries and allowances payable to, and the other terms and conditions of service of, the chairperson, vice-chairperson, other members and assessors shall be such as may be prescribed''terms and conditions of service of members and assessors2010 for section 12 of the principal act, the following sections shall be substituted, namely:—substitution of new sections 12 and 12a for section 12dissolution of bench"12 (1) after any water dispute assigned to a bench of the tribunal is adjudicated and it submits its decision or report, the central government shall, on the recommendations of the chairperson, dissolve that bench within a period of three months25(2) upon dissolution of  the bench under sub-section (1), the members of that bench (excluding chairperson and vice-chairperson) shall vacate their respective offices:30provided that where a member of  a bench is also a member of another bench, such member shall continue as a member of such other bench12a (1) upon the dissolution of  a bench of the tribunal under section 12, the staff of such dissolved bench shall be,––staff and assets of dissolved bench(i) made available to any other bench, if so required; or (ii) repatriated to their parent cadre,35in such manner as may be prescribed(2) the assets and properties of the dissolved bench shall be transferred to the central government or to the concerned state government which provided such assets and properties"amendment of section 134011 in section 13 of the principal act, in sub-section (2), for clauses (a) to (f), the following clauses shall be substituted, namely:–––"(a) the form and the manner in which a complaint as to any water dispute may be made by any state government under section 3;(b) the procedure for preparation of a list of candidates and making of recommendations for selection of chairperson, vice-chairperson and members of the tribunal under sub-section (4) of section 4b;5(c) the other matters, and the manner of providing for distribution of water during distress situations arising from shortage in the availability of water, under sub-section (2a) of section 5;(d) the other matters in respect of which the tribunal may be vested with the powers of a civil court under clause (d) of sub-section (1) of section 9;(e) the procedure to be followed by the tribunal under sub-section (4) of section 9;10(f) the other matters in respect of which data is to be maintained, the particulars thereof, and the manner of maintaining such data under sub-section (1) of section 9a;(g) the salaries and allowances payable to, and the other terms and conditions of service of, the chairperson, the vice-chairperson, other members and assessors under section 10;15(h) the manner in which the staff of the dissolved bench shall be dealt with under sub-section (1) of section 12a;(i) any other matter which has to be, or may be, prescribed"substitution of section 1412 for section 14 of the principal act, the following section shall be substituted, namely:—20"14 the ravi and beas waters tribunal constituted prior to the date of commencement of the inter-state river water disputes (amendment) act, 2019 shall stand dissolved and the water disputes pending adjudication before it shall stand transferred to the tribunal:matters relating to ravi and beas waters tribunal25provided that the concerned bench shall proceed to deal with such dispute from the stage at which it was so transferred"insertion of new section 1513 after section 14 of the principal act, the following section shall be inserted, namely:—30settlement of dispute by parties during adjudication"15 (1) where the states, which are parties to a dispute, reach a settlement during the period of adjudication of any dispute by the tribunal, and such states submit a report in this behalf to the central government, the central government shall within a period of one month make a reference to the chairperson of the tribunal for ending the adjudication of the said dispute35(2) the chairperson shall, on receipt of the reference under sub-section (1), recommend to dissolve that bench and the central government shall, on such recommendations, dissolve that bench of the tribunal within a period of three months(3) the settlement of dispute by parties under this section shall have the same status and effect as a decision of the tribunal under section 6" statement of objects and reasonson account of increase in demand for water by the states, the inter-state river water disputes are on the rise though the inter-state river water disputes act, 1956 (33 of 1956) provides for a legal framework to address such disputes, it suffers from many drawbacks under the said act, a separate tribunal has to be established for each inter-state river water disputes only four out of nine tribunals have made awards though the ravi and beas water disputes tribunal has been in existence for over 33 years yet it has not been able to make any successful award till date further, there is no provision in the act fixing time limit for adjudication by a tribunal or for any upper age limit for the chairman or a member of a tribunal there is no mechanism for continuation of work on occurrence of any vacancy in the office of the chairman or a member of a tribunal nor is there a time limit for publishing the report of the tribunal all these drawbacks are causing delay in the adjudication of water disputes2 the inter-state river water disputes (amendment) bill, 2019 seeks to streamline the adjudication of inter-state river water disputes and make the present legal and institutional architecture robust the bill proposes to introduce a mechanism to resolve the water dispute amicably by negotiations through a disputes resolution committee, to be established by the central government consisting of experts from relevant fields, before such dispute is referred to the tribunal3 the proposed bill further seeks to provide for a single standing tribunal (with multiple benches) instead of multiple tribunals, which shall consist of a chairperson, a vice- chairperson, and not more than six members (three judicial members and three expert members) the term of office of the chairperson and vice-chairperson shall be five years or till they attain the age of seventy years, whichever is earlier the term of office of  other members of the tribunal shall be co-terminus with the adjudication of the water disputes and no member shall hold office after he has attained the age of sixty-seven years it is also proposed that the assessors, who provide technical support to the tribunal, shall be appointed from amongst experts serving in the central water engineering service not below the rank of chief engineer the total time period for adjudication of a water dispute by the tribunal has been fixed at a maximum of four and half years the decision of the bench of the tribunal shall be final and binding on the states concerned, with no requirement of its publication in the official gazette the proposed bill also seeks to make provision for removal of chairperson, vice-chairperson and other members on the grounds specified in the proposed provision it also seeks to provide for out of court settlement of disputes by the party states during the adjudication process in the tribunal4 the proposed bill also seeks to provide for transparent data collection system at the national level for each river basin and for this purpose, an agency to maintain data bank and information system shall be appointed or authorised by the central government5 the bill seeks to achieve the above objectivesnew delhi;gajendra singh sekhawatthe 15th  july, 2019———— president's recommendation under article 117 of the constitution of india ————[do no 1/6198-bm(pt v) dated 18 july, 2019 from shri gajendra singh shekhawat, minister of jal shakti to the secretary general, lok sabha]the president, having been informed of the subject matter of the proposed inter-state river water disputes (amendment) bill, 2019, recommends to lok sabha the consideration of the bill under article 117(3) of the constitution financial memorandumclause 3 of the bill seeks to substitute new sections 4, 4a, 4b, 4c,4d and 4e for section 4 of the inter-state river water disputes act, 1956 the proposed section 4 seeks to establish a single standing inter-state river water disputes tribunal with multiple benches, which shall initially be constituted by merging of existing five tribunals as existing premises with necessary furniture are already available, no new premises or furniture are required for establishing the office of the new standing tribunal therefore, no non-recurring expenditure would be involvedthe new tribunal shall consist of one chairperson, one vice-chairperson and not more than six members (three judicial members and three expert members) further, after the new tribunal is established, 97 sanctioned posts in the existing tribunals are proposed to be reduced to 72 posts therefore, on establishment of proposed new tribunal, the estimated annual recurring expenditure is likely to be reduced from existing rs 1481 crores to rs 1054 crores, thereby saving rs 427 crore per annumthe bill, if enacted, therefore, does not involve any other recurring or non-recurring expenditure memorandum  regarding  delegated  legislationclause 10 of the bill seeks to substitute clauses (a) to (f) of sub-section (2) of section 13 relating to power to make rules the proposed amendments seeks to provide for rule making powers in respect of—(i) the procedure for preparation of a list of candidates and making of recommendations for selection of chairperson, vice-chairperson and members of the tribunal;(ii) the other matters and the manner of providing for distribution of water during stress situations arising from shortage in the availability of water;(iii) the other matters of which data is to be maintained, the particulars such data shall contain and the manner in which such data shall be maintained;(iv) the salaries and allowances payable to, and the other terms and conditions of service of, the chairperson, vice-chairperson, other members and assessors; and(v) the manner in which the staff of the dissolved bench shall be dealt withthe matters in respect of which the rules may be made are generally matters of procedure and administrative details and it is not practicable to provide for them in the bill itself the delegation of legislative power is, therefore, of a normal character annexure extracts from the inter-state river water disputes act, 1956 (33 of 1956)    definitions      2 in this act, unless the context otherwise requires,—(a) "prescribed" 'means prescribed by rules made under this act; (b) "tribunal" means a water disputes tribunal constituted under section 4;    constitution of tribunal      4  (1) when any request under section 3 is received from any state government in respect of any water dispute and the central government is of opinion that the water dispute cannot be settled by negotiations, the central government shall, within a period not exceeding one year from the date of receipt of such request, by notification in the official gazette, constitute a  water disputes tribunal for the adjudication of the water dispute:14 of 2002provided that any dispute settled by a tribunal before the commencement of the inter-state water disputes (amendment) act, 2002 shall not be re-opened(2)  the tribunal shall consist of a chairman and two other members nominated in this behalf by the chief justice of india from among   persons who at the time of such nomination are judges of the supreme court or of a high court(3) the central government may, in consultation with the tribunal, appoint two or more persons as assessors to advise the tribunal in the proceedings before itadjudication of water disputes5 (1) when a tribunal has been constituted  under section 4, the central government shall, subject to the prohibition contained in section 8, refer the water dispute and  any matter appearing to be connected with, or relevant to, the water dispute to the tribunal for adjudication(2) the tribunal shall investigate the matters referred to it and forward to the central government a report setting out the facts as found by it and giving its decision on the matters referred to it within a period of three years:provided that if the decision cannot be given for unavoidable reasons, within a period of three years, the central government may extend the period for a further period not exceeding two years(3) if, upon consideration of the decision of the tribunal, the central government or any state government is of opinion that anything therein contained requires explanation or that guidance is needed upon any point not originally referred to the tribunal, the central government or the state government, as the case may be, within three months from the date of the decision, against refer the matter to the tribunal for further consideration, and on such reference, the tribunal may forward to the central government a further report within one year from the date of such reference giving such explanation or guidance as it deems fit and in such a case, the decision of the tribunal shall be deemed to be modified accordingly:provided that the period of one year within which the tribunal may forward its report to the central government may be extended by the central government, for such further period as it considers necessary    filling of vacancies5a if, for any reason a vacancy (other than a temporary absence) occurs in the officeof the chairman or any other member of a tribunal, such vacancy shall be filled by a person to be nominated in this behalf  by  the chief justice of india in accordance with the provisions of sub-section (2) of section 4, and the investigation of the matter referred to the tribunalmay be continued by the tribunal after the vacancy is filled and from the stage at which the vacancy occurred    publication of decision of tribunal6 (1) the central government shall publish the decision of the tribunal in the officialgazette and the decision shall be final and binding on the parties to the dispute and shall be given effect to by them(2) the decision of the tribunal, after its publication in the official gazette by the central government under sub-section (1), shall have the same force as an order or decree of the supreme court6a (1) without prejudice to the provisions of section 6, the central government may, by notification in the official gazette, frame a scheme or schemes whereby provision may be made for all matters necessary to give effect to the decision of a tribunalpower to make schemes to implement decision of tribunal    maintenance of data bank and information9a (1)  the central government shall maintain a databank and information system at the national level for each river basin which shall include data regarding water resources, land, agriculture, and matters relating thereto, as the central government may prescribed from time to time the state government shall supply the data to the central government or to an agency appointed by the central government for the purpose, as and when required(2) the central government shall have powers to verify the data supply by the state government, and appoint any person or persons for the purpose and take such major as it may considered necessary the person or persons to appointed shall have the powers to summon such records and information from the concerned state government as are considered necessary to discharge their functions under this section|     |     |     |     |    ||------|------|------|------|-----|10 the chairman and other members of a tribunal and the assessors shall be entitled to receive such remuneration, allowances or fees as may be prescribed|                                                                                             |                                                                                       ||----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|| allowances or                                                                                |                                                                                        || fees for                                                                                     |                                                                                        || chairman of                                                                                  |                                                                                        || tribunal and                                                                                 |                                                                                        || assessors                                                                                   |                                                                                        || dissolution of                                                                               |                                                                                        || tribunal                                                                                    |                                                                                        || 12                                                                                           |  the central government shall dissolve the tribunal after it has forwarded its report || and as soon as the central government is satisfied that no further reference to the tribunal |                                                                                        || in the matter would be necessary                                                            |                                                                                        | 13 (1)                                                                                                  power to make rules(2) in particular, and without prejudice to the generality of the foregoing power, such rules may provide for or any of the following matters, namely:—(a)  the form and manner in which a complaint as to any water dispute may be made by any state government;(b) the matter in respect of which a tribunal may be vested with the powers of  a civil court;(c)  the procedures to be followed by a tribunal under this act;(d)  the remunerations, allowances or fees payable to the chairman and other members of a tribunal and assessors;(e) the terms and conditions of service of officers and assessors of the tribunal;(f)  any other matter which has to be, or may be, prescribed    constitution of  ravi and beas waters tribunal14 (1) notwithstanding anything contained in the foregoing provisions of this act, the central government may, by notification in the official gazette, constitute a tribunal under this act, to be known as the ravi and beas waters tribunal for the verification and adjudication of the matters referred to in paragraphs 91 and 92, respectively, of the punjab settlement(2) when a tribunal has been constituted under sub-section (1), the provisions of sub-sections (2) and  (3) of section 4, sub-sections (2), (3) and (4) of section 5 and sections 5a to 13 (both inclusive) of this act relating to the constitution jurisdiction, powers, authority and bar of jurisdiction shall, so far as may be, but subject to sub-section (3) hereof, apply to the constitution, jurisdiction, powers, authority and bar of jurisdiction in relation to the tribunal constituted under sub-section (1)(3)  when a tribunal has been constituted under sub-section (1), the central government alone may suo  motu  or at the request of the concerned state government refer the matters specified in paragraphs 91 and 92 of the punjab settlement to such tribunalexplanation—for the purposes of this section, "punjab settlement" means the memorandum of  settlement signed at new delhi on the 24th day of july, 1985———— a billfurther to amend the inter-state river water disputes act, 1956————(shri gajendra singh shekhawat, minister of jal shakti)mgipmrnd—1841ls(s3)—19072019