Supreme Court disposes Telangana plea on Polavaram expansion as not maintainable
Hyderabad: On Monday, the Supreme Court of India disposed of the Telangana government’s writ petition challenging the expansion of the Polavaram multipurpose irrigation project. The court held that the plea was prima facie not maintainable. However, it granted the state liberty to pursue an appropriate legal remedy.
Earlier, the Telangana government filed the petition against the Union government and the Andhra Pradesh government. It alleged illegal diversion of Godavari waters beyond the allocated quantum under the award. Senior advocate Abhishek Manu Singhvi, appearing for Telangana, argued that any diversion beyond the fixed allocation amounted to illegality and violated the Godavari Act.
Singhvi stated that Telangana invoked Article 32 because the award clearly fixed the distribution of Godavari waters. Therefore, he argued, any expansion beyond that limit was unlawful. Meanwhile, the Chief Justice noted that the state relied on alleged statutory violations and claimed that the project expansion exceeded the permitted allocation.
Polavaram expansion plea withdrawn, liberty granted to file suit
However, Justice J.B. Pardiwala pointed out that Karnataka and Maharashtra were also parties to the original award. Yet, Telangana did not include them in the present petition. In response, Singhvi sought permission to withdraw the writ petition. He informed the bench that the state had nearly completed preparations to file a civil suit. He added that Telangana could not remain without a legal remedy.
Subsequently, the Chief Justice recorded the submission. The bench then disposed of the writ petition as not maintainable. At the same time, it granted liberty to the Telangana government to pursue an appropriate remedy and raise all issues covered in the withdrawn plea.
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