The Supreme Court on Monday directed the Central government to notify the constitution of a tribunal to adjudicate the long-pending inter-State water dispute between Tamil Nadu and Karnataka over the sharing of waters of the Pennaiyar River, also known as the Dakshina Pinakini in Karnataka.
A Bench comprising Justices Vikram Nath and N V Anjaria made it clear that the tribunal must be formally constituted and notified within a period of one 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 dispute relates to sharing of waters of the Pennaiyar River, which originates in the Chikkaballapura district of Karnataka and flows through the State before entering Tamil Nadu. Tamil Nadu, being the downstream State, has alleged that various projects initiated and decisions taken by Karnataka in the upper reaches of the river have adversely affected the natural flow of water into its territory.
Tamil Nadu approached the Supreme Court in 2018 by way of an original suit against Karnataka and the Union government, seeking the constitution of a dedicated tribunal under the Inter-State River Water Disputes Act to resolve the issue.
During the proceedings, the Central government had suggested that the matter could be addressed through inter-ministerial or inter-State negotiations. However, Tamil Nadu consistently opposed this approach, insisting that the only effective and lawful resolution lay in the constitution of a Pennaiyar River Water Disputes Tribunal.
The Supreme Court had earlier expressed dissatisfaction with the Centre’s delay in facilitating negotiations. In November 2022, the Court had pulled up the Central government for the lack of progress, and in January 2019, it had already permitted Tamil Nadu to formally seek the constitution of a tribunal. Further extensions of time were granted in subsequent hearings, including one in May.
In 2023, the Union Ministry of Jal Shakti informed the Court that while a proposal to constitute the tribunal had been forwarded through the Cabinet Secretariat, the Union Cabinet had not yet taken a final decision.
With negotiations yielding no outcome and the dispute remaining unresolved for years, the Court reserved its judgment in December 2025 and has now issued a direction to the Centre to act.
The Pennaiyar dispute adds to the history of river water conflicts between Tamil Nadu and Karnataka, which have previously clashed over the sharing of Cauvery waters. In its 2018 landmark judgment on the Cauvery dispute, the Supreme Court had emphasised that rivers are national assets and that no single state can claim exclusive ownership over their waters.