DR. JOE JOSEPH & ORS. versus STATE OF TAMIL NADU & ORS.

Citation: [2022] 3 S.C.R. 95 · Decided: 08-04-2022 · Supreme Court of India · Bench: A.M. KHANWILKAR, ABHAY S. OKA, C.T. RAVIKUMAR · Disposal: Directions issued
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Judgment (excerpt)

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DR. JOE JOSEPH & ORS.
v.
STATE OF TAMIL NADU & ORS.
(Writ Petition (Civil) No. 880 of 2020)
APRIL 08, 2022
 [A.M. KHANWILKAR, ABHAY S. OKA
AND C.T. RAVIKUMAR, JJ.]
Dam Safety Act, 2021 – ss.8 and 9 – Mullaperiyar Dam –
Interim arrangement until “regular National Dam Safety Authority
(NDSA)” under the 2021 Act becomes fully functional – For
purposes of surveillance, inspection, operation and maintenance
of dams such as Mullaperiyar Dam, the responsibility is fastened
upon the National Dam Safety Authority (NDSA) established u/s.8
of the 2021 Act – Functions of the Authority so established have
been spelt out in s.9 of the 2021 Act –Establishment of a regular
structure in the form of NDSA with all essential organisational and
logistical facilities at its disposal is however likely to take some
more time – Until the regular NDSA becomes functional, the
Supervisory Committee, as reconstituted in terms of this order, shall
be accountable for all matters relating to safety of the Dam including
referred to in the 2021 Act and discharge the functions of NDSA
specified in s.9 of the 2021 Act – The competent authority may take
appropriate steps to ensure that the regular NDSA under the 2021
Act is established at the earliest.
State of Tamil Nadu v. State of Kerala & Anr, (2014) 12
SCC 696 : [2014] 12 SCR 875 – referred to.
Case Law Reference
[2014] 12 SCR 875
referred to
Para 5
CIVIL ORIGINAL JURISDICTION : Writ Petition (Civil) No.
880 of 2020.
(Under Article 32 of The Constitution of India)
With
Special Leave Petition (Civil) No.3924 Of 2021, Writ Petition
(Civil) Nos.771 And 1225 of 2021, Writ Petition (Civil) No.86 of 2022.
   [2022] 3 S.C.R. 95
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SUPREME COURT REPORTS
[2022] 3 S.C.R.
Tushar Mehta, SG, Ms. Aishwarya Bhati, Sanjay Jain, ASGs, V.
Krishnamurthy, AAG, Jaideep Gupta, Shekhar Naphade, N. R. Elango,
G. Umapathy, Dr. S. Gopakumaran Nair, Sr. Advs., Ms. Shradha
Deshmukh, Ms. Manisha Chava, Rajat Nair, Ms. Vanshaja Shukla, Arvind
Kumar Sharma, G. Prakash, Jishnu M. L., Ms. Priyanka Prakash, Ms.
Beena Prakash, Anoop R., D. Kumanan, Ms. Pavitra Balakrishnan, Suvin
Kumaran, Ms. Aishwarya Dhasi, Ms. Farah Hashmi, T. G. Narayanan
Nair, Sooraj T. Elanjickal, Ms. Priya Balakrishnan, Ashwin Kumar M.
J., Wills Mathews, Mathen Joseph, Devendra Kumar Tewari, Rakesh
Garg, Ashish Gopal Garg, Paul John Edison, Nand Ram, Ms. Shweta
Garg, Ginesh P., V. K. Biju, Ms. Ria Sachthey, Chetanya Singh, Amlendu
Kumar Akhilesh Kumar Jha, Abhay Pratap Singh, Shaji George, Ms.
Vijay Laxmi, Umang Tripathi, Rajeev Yadav, Ms. Aayushi, Mathews J.
Nedumpara, Ms. Manju Jetley, Ms. Merry S. Mathew, Hitesh Kumar
Sharma, Akhileshwar Jha, Ms. Kavita M. S. Sebbi, Naresh Kumar, Satish
Murthi, Ms. Uma Devi M., C. R. Jayasukin, Ms. Divya Mishra, Ms.
Suresh Kumari, Narender Kumar Verma, Ms. Smitha Pandey, Manoj V.
George, Zulfiker Ali P. S., Ms. Shilpa Liza George, Faisal M. Aboobacker,
Ms. Lakshmi Sree P., Augustine Peter, Ms. Akriti Jai, N. Subramaniyan,
Pranav Sachdeva, Jatin Bhardwaj, Ms. Neha Rathi, Prabu
Ramasubramanian, Raghunatha Sethupathy B., Ms. Priya R., K. Paari
Vendhan, Advs. for the appearing parties.
The following order of the Court was passed:
ORDER
1. During the pendency of these matters, a new law has been
enacted by the Parliament titled “the Dam Safety Act, 20211”, which
has received assent of the President on 13.12.2021 and has been notified
vide gazette dated 14.12.2021. As per the note filed by respondent No.
3, the appointed date for coming into force of the 2021 Act has been
specified as 30.12.2021.
2. The 2021 Act deals with subjects which are broadly matters in
issue in the present petitions such as surveillance, inspection, operation
and maintenance of the Mullaperiyar Dam including for prevention of
dam failure related disasters.
3. The 2021 Act predicates that multi-tier institutional mechanism
be established for providing institutional mechanism to ensure the safe
1 for short, “the 2021 Act”
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functioning of the concerned dam(s) and for matters connected therewith
or incidental thereto. Section 5 mandates constitution of National
Committee who is required to discharge functions delineated in Section
6 of the 2021 Act. For the purposes of surveillance, inspection, operation
and maintenance of the dams such as Mullaperiyar Dam, which is the
subject matter in these proceedings, the responsibility is fastened upon
the National Dam Safety Authority2 established under Section 8
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