India, July 25 -- The Union government has moved the Supreme Court seeking a "purposive" interpretation of the Inter-State River Water Disputes Act, 1956, to allow retired Supreme Court and high court judges heading existing water tribunals to adjudicate fresh inter-state river disputes, arguing that such a reading would avoid the need to constitute new tribunals each time and ensure quicker resolution of disputes.

In an application filed before a bench of justices Vikram Nath and Sandeep Mehta, the Centre urged the court to interpret Section 4(2) of the Act to hold that the statutory requirement that the chairman and members of a water disputes tribunal be nominated by the Chief Justice of India "from among persons who at the time of su...