NEW DELHI - The Indian Supreme Court Monday dismissed a plea seeking the declaration of the Indus Waters Treaty between Pakistan and India as illegal and unconstitutional.
“This treaty is of 1960 and this treaty has held good for more than half a century,” a bench headed by Chief Justice J S Khehar said while dismissing the PIL filed by lawyer M L Sharma in his personal capacity. The bench, also comprising Justices DY Chandrachud and SK Kaul, however, made clear that the order dismissing the PIL “does not put any impairment on anybody”. The clarification came when Sharma said that the dismissal of the PIL should not put any restriction in the way of the government if it wants to review the Pak-India water pact.
During the brief hearing, it was argued that the Indus water pact was not a treaty at all as the same was not signed in the name of the President of India.
“It was a tripartite agreement between three leaders and void ab initio (illegal at the outset) and hence cannot be acted upon,” the lawyer said. The court said that it has perused the entire petition and does not wish to agree with it.
