New Delhi, July 26
The Supreme Court has held that the judiciary has no role in the distribution of river water within any state and it is for the Executive to decide on such allocations.A Bench comprising Justices Markandey Katju and CK Prasad issued the ruling while rejecting a prayer for directing the Gujarat Government to release more water to the Kuchchh district of the state from the Sardar Sarovar Dam.

“We are of the opinion that the prayer for the allocation of adequate water in Kuchchh district is not one which can be a matter of judicial review. It is for the executive authorities to look into this matter,” the Bench said in its order, acknowledging that “there must be a judicial restraint in such matters”.

It agreed with the Gujarat High Court verdict holding that there was “no judicially manageable standards” for deciding allocation of water in favour of any region within a state. The government was the best judge to decide how much water should be released from the Narmada Canal to Kuchchh and how much water was to be left for other regions.