PARAMESWARAN NAIR Vs. ETTUMANOOR PANCHAYAT

JUDGEMENT

(1.) "Does a river take in the river bed - that is the question raised in this Original Petition. It has been raised in the context of the construction to be placed on S.82 of the Kerala Panchayats Act, 1960 which reads:

(2.) Shorter Oxford English Dictionary assigned two meanings to the term 'water course'; and the second meaning is: "the bed or channel of a river or stream". Having regard to the statutory scheme and setting it can safely be stated, that the term 'water course' signifies the contour feature in which the river runs. (See Gartner v. Kidsman (1962) 108 CLR 12 and Knezoric v. Shire of Swan & Guildford (1969) 118 CLR 468).

(3.) It is evident that the term 'water course' as contained in the section takes in a river. There is no dispute that the Meenachil River involved in this case meanders through the areas of many Panchayats. Not being one notified by the Government as envisaged under the section, the river is not vested in the Government; it vested in the Panchayat.