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REPORTABLE

IN THE SUPREME COURT OF INDIA

ADVISORY JURISDICTION

SPECIAL REFERENCE NO. 1 OF 2004

(UNDER ARTICLE 143 (1) OF THE CONSTITUTION OF INDIA)

“IN RE: THE PUNJAB TERMINATION OF AGREEMENT ACT, 2004”

The following is the opinion of the Court:

ANIL R. DAVE, J.

1. By a Reference dated 22nd July, 2004, Hon’ble

the President of India made a request for an

advisory opinion to this Court under Article 143

(1) of the Constitution of India, in relation to

enactment of the Punjab Termination of Agreement

Act, 2004 (hereinafter referred to as “the Punjab

Act”) by the State of Punjab.

2. The text of the Reference referred to for the

consideration & opinion of this Court is as

follows:-

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“WHERAS the Indus Basin comprises

the rivers Indus, Jhelum, Chenab,

Ravi, Beas and Sutlej;

WHEREAS the Indus Water Treaty 1960

was entered into between the

Governments of India and Pakistan on

19th September, 1960, under which

India is entitled to the free,

unrestricted use of the waters of the

Ravi, Beas and Sutlej till they

finally cross into Pakistan;

WHEREAS while at the time of

signing the said treaty, the waters of

Sutlej had already been planned to be

utilised for the Bhakra-Nangal

Project, the surplus flow of rivers

Ravi and Beas, over and above the

pre-partition use, was allocated by

the Agreement in 1955 between the

concerned states as follows namely:-

Punjab 7.20 MAF

(Including 1.30 MAF for Pepsu)

Rajasthan 8.00 MAF

Jammu & Kashmir 0.65 MAF

.................

15.85 MAF

.................

WHEREAS after the afore-said

allocation, there was a reorganisation

of the State of Punjab under the

Punjab Reorganisation Act, 1966 (31 of

1966) as a result of which successor

states, namely, State of Punjab and

State of Haryana were created and it

became necessary to determine the

respective shares of the successor

states out of the quantum of water

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which could become available in

accordance with aforesaid allocation

for use in the erstwhile State of

Punjab and when the successor states

failed to reach an agreement, a

notification dated 24th March, 1976

was issued by the Central Government

under Section 78 of the Punjab

Reorganisation Act, 1966 under which

State of Haryana was allocated 3.5 MAF

quantity of water;

WHEREAS to give effect to the

allocation of 3.5 MAF of water to the

State of Haryana under the said 1976

notification, construction of

Satluj-Yamuna Link Canal (hereinafter

called SYL Canal) was started by the

State of Haryana in their portion

after the 1976 notification. The

construction of SYL Canal was also

started by Punjab in their portion in

early eighties;

WHEREAS the States of Punjab, Haryana

and Rajasthan entered into agreement

dated 31.12.1981, by which the States

of Punjab, Haryana and Rajasthan, in

view of overall national interest and

optimum utilisation of the waters,

agreed on the reallocation of the

waters among the States as follows:-

Share of Punjab : 4.22 MAF

Share of Haryana : 3.50 MAF

Share of Rajasthan : 8.60 MAF

Quantity earmarked

for Delhi water supply: 0.20 MAF

Share of J & K : 0.65 MAF