SC asks Karnataka to release Cauvery water to Tamil Nadu for three days

New Delhi, September 27

The Supreme Court has asked Karnataka to release 6,000 cusecs of Cauvery water a day to Tamil Nadu until Friday, notwithstanding a resolution the state assembly had passed against sparing any water to its rival in the dispute.   

The court also called for a political solution to end the deadlock through a meeting between chief ministers of the two warring states and the central government and asked Attorney General Mukul Rohatgi to facilitate the meeting.

"We think it appropriate that Karnataka releases 6,000 cusecs water to Tamil Nadu in three days by following the order passed by us, despite the resolution passed by the assembly," a Bench of Justices Dipak Misra and UU Lalit said.

Even while the court was dictating its order, senior advocate FS Nariman, who represented Karnataka, opposed the direction saying there was "no logic in it" and the order amounted to "a direct confrontation".

Tamil Nadu’s counsel, senior advocate Shekhar Naphade, blamed Karnataka's "obstructionist and obstinate" attitude for the impasse and told the court: "On instruction, I am saying that the state (Tamil Nadu) is fed up. We are simply tired of this litigation. We are not getting what is our legitimate right".

"We are in a federal structure and in a democracy like India, no state can say it will not obey the Supreme Court's order. You cannot pick up fight with everyone. It is not about Karnataka or Tamil Nadu or any state, there has to be federal cooperativism," the Bench said.

When Tamil Nadu continued to ask the court to have the order enforced, the Bench said: "Have patience for few days. This is not an ordinary litigation. Let us see how things shape up."

 The development comes a days after Karnataka told the court it had no water to spare until January 2017. The Karnataka Assembly passed a resolution last week against using Cauvery water for any purpose other than drinking and said it could not spare any water to Tamil Nadu.

The two states have been involved in a dispute over sharing of Cauvery waters that had turned violent earlier this month.

The court asked Karnataka to release 6,000 cusecs of water to Tamil Nadu on September 20, up from the 3,000 that a committee on water sharing, the Cauvery Supervisory Committee, had directed only a day before.

The Supreme Court’s September 20 order was a modification order two previous order: on September 5, it asked the Karnataka Government to release 15,000 cusecs of water to Tamil Nadu, but the order was modified to 12,000 cusecs on September 12 when Karnataka said it did not have enough water to fulfill its own needs. Karnataka later asked the court to modify the second order also, saying it was too much water to give away.

Both orders met with violent protests in Karnataka, even leading to a person’s death in police firing. — Agencies