THE HINDU Editorial Vocabulary-December 20, 2016- Topic 1
A permanent tribunal to adjudicate river
water disputes between States will undoubtedly be a vast improvement over the
present system of setting up ad hoc tribunals. The Union Cabinet’s proposal
to have a permanent tribunal that will
subsume existing tribunals is expected to provide for speedier adjudication.
But whether this will resolve the problem of protracted proceedings is
doubtful. Given the number of ongoing inter-State disputes and those likely to
arise in future, it may be difficult for a single institution with a former
Supreme Court judge as its chairperson to give its ruling within three years.
Secondly, its interlocutory orders as well as final award are likely to be
challenged in the Supreme Court. This month, in
a landmark verdict, the Supreme Court said it had unfettered power to hear an
appeal arising from a river water dispute tribunal under Article 136 of the
Constitution. It has interpreted the ouster clause in the Inter-State Water
Disputes Act as one that merely bars the court from entertaining an original
complaint or suit on its own, but not its power to hear appeals against a
tribunal’s decisions. Thus, finality and enforcement of a tribunal’s award may
remain elusive. The idea of a Dispute Resolution Committee, an expert body that
will seek to resolve inter-State differences before a tribunal is approached,
will prove to be another disincentive for needless litigation.
A positive feature of the proposed
changes is that there will be an expert agency to collect data on rainfall,
irrigation and surface water flows. This acquires importance because
party-States have a tendency to fiercely question data provided by the other
side. A permanent forum having reliable data in its hands sounds like an ideal
mechanism to apportion water. However, a confusing aspect is that benches of
the permanent tribunal are going to be created to look into disputes as and
when they arise. It is not clear in what way these temporary benches would be
different from the present tribunals. A larger and more significant downside to
any adjudicatory framework is the refusal or reluctance of parties to abide by
judicial orders. Having an institutional mechanism is one thing, but infusing a
sense of responsibility in those helming State governments is quite another.
What is at stake is not merely a set of competing claims over riparian rights.
Water disputes have humanitarian dimensions, including agrarian problems
worsened by drought and monsoon failures. Adjudication, by whatever mechanism,
should not be at the mercy of partisan leaders who turn claims into dangerously
emotive issues. Institutional mechanisms should be backed by the political will
to make them work.
Vocabulary
Adjudicate: make a formal judgment or
decision about a problem or disputed matter.
Example: The committee adjudicates on all betting disputes
Subsume: include or absorb something in something else.
Example: Most of these phenomena can be subsumed under two broad categories
Protracted: lasting for a long time or longer than expected or usual.
Example: A protracted and bitter dispute
Synonyms: prolonged, long-lasting, extended, long-drawn-out, spun
out, dragged out
Interlocutory: judgment given provisionally during the course of a
legal action.
Example: This is entirely consistent with the familiar field of interlocutory
injunctions granted ex parte.
Unfettered: release from restraint or
inhibition.
Example: His imagination is unfettered by the laws of logic
Synonyms: unrestrained, unrestricted, unconstrained, uninhibited, free, rampant
Interpreted: explain the meaning of information,
words, or actions.
Example: The evidence is difficult to interpret
Synonyms: explain, elucidate, expound, explicate, clarify, illuminate
Elusive: difficult to find, catch, or achieve.
Example: Success will become ever more elusive
Synonyms: difficult to find, evasive, slippery, always on the
move
Disincentive: a factor, especially a
financial disadvantage, that tends to discourage people from doing something.
Example: Spiraling house prices are beginning to act as a disincentive to
development.
Synonyms: deterrent, discouragement, damper, brake, curb, check, restraint
Apportion: divide and allocate.
Example: Voting power will be apportioned according to contribution
Synonyms: share, divide, allocate, distribute, allot, assign, give
out
Reluctance: unwillingness or
disinclination to do something.
Example: She sensed his reluctance to continue
Synonyms: unwillingness, disinclination, hesitation, wavering, vacillation
Riparian: of, relating to, or situated on the banks of a river.
Example: All the riparian states must sign an agreement
Emotive: arousing or able to arouse intense feeling.
Example: Animal experimentation is an emotive subject
Synonyms: controversial, contentious, inflammatory, sensitive, delicate