The Bihar Government on Saturday dared the Centre to move the Supreme Court against its “right” to set up a judicial commission to look into the causes of Kosi breaches. It was responding to Union Water Resources Ministry’s observation, questioning the legality of the judicial commission it had set up under retired Patna High Court Judge Rajesh Walia on September 9.Water Resources Minister Bijendra Prasad Yadav told The Indian Express: “We are deeply anguished at the discouraging and contradictory correspondence relating to the commission from the Centre”. He said it was well within the state’s power to appoint a commission under provisions of the Commission of Enquiries Act, 1952.Yadav said the Union Water Resources Department Secretary, in a letter to the Bihar Irrigation Secretary on September 24, had questioned the locus standi of the judicial commission. The letter read: “The Kosi agreement is a bilateral agreement between two sovereign states, India and Nepal, and Bihar is not a party to either 1954 or the 1966 agreement.” The Centre suggested that it would first discuss the matter with Nepal during the forthcoming (September 29 to October 1) meeting of the joint committee on water resources at Kathmandu. However, Yadav said there was no question of “discontinuing” the commission. “If the Centre challenges the legality of the commission, it is free to move the SC. We are tired of the frequent political spats.” He wondered why the Centre did not cite the “international law” provisions when the commission was set up. Senior High Court lawyer Tuhin Shankar said, “The Commission of Enquiries Act clearly says if a commission is set up “by a state Government, the Central Government shall not appoint another Commission to inquire into the same matter.” Shankar said, according to the Act, the Centre can set up a parallel commission in exceptional cases but cannot quash the panel set up by the state. He said the laws had been silent on “international rules”.
