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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