ABSTRACT
This chapter looks at the opportunities for reframing the human right to water (HRW) in the way in India. It analyses the development of the HRW and common-based principles by the judiciary and legislature and the prospects of reframing the HRW. The dominant interpretation of the HRW both in legal and political discourse has been centred upon a fixed relationship between the rights-bearing subject and a particular quantity and quality of water. Participation can also be an important element to the HRW and, depending on the form it takes, a way to respond to the concerns about the individualism of rights. The HRW would be closer to being recognised as a right to transform the hydro-social conditions out of which water is accessed. The pronouncements of the Court over the years, through invoking the HRW and several common-based principles have been significant in giving legal authority to rights and principles.
