Belagavi: All BJP legislators attending the special session of the state legislature on Monday, will unequivocally support the state government's stand not to release water to Tamil Nadu besides insisting on an immediate change of the team of advocates headed by Fali Nariman in the larger interests of Karnataka, said former CM B.S. Yeddyurappa.
While criticising the Siddaramaiah government for ignoring BJP's suggestions on the Cauvery issue, he said his party opposes the court's “unfair”' verdict on Cauvery and demanded that the government not release even a drop of water to Tamil Nadu. Speaking to mediapersons who met him in Belagavi on Sunday, Mr Yeddyurappa said, “The state government did not value us (BJP) when we urged them earlier not to go to the Cauvery tribunal. None of the BJP's suggestions and advice were taken seriously by the government including changing the team of advocates,”' he said.
The state BJP is opposing the court's verdict over Cauvery for the past 15 days and will continue to do so because the region depending on Cauvery water in the state has dried up and people are facing an acute scarcity of drinking water.
“The BJP urges the state government to appeal against the court's verdict again to ensure justice for people,” he added. It was made clear to the government at the all-party meeting in Bengaluru on Saturday that Fali Nariman did not plead in favour of the state in the Supreme Court, said Mr Yeddyurappa.
While reminding CM Siddaramaiah that the state would not get justice by retaining the same team of advocates, Mr Yeddyurappa said Mr Nariman's stand on Cauvery issue had pained him a lot. All BJP legislators will attend Monday's special session of the legislature and later attend the party's state executive in Belagavi, he said.
State’s legal team paid Rs 76 crore
The state’s advocates in the Cauvery and Mahadayi water sharing disputes were paid a whopping Rs76.21 crore as fees by the government for attending to the cases in both tribunals so far.
After RTI information revealed details of the huge fees paid to them on Saturday, an RTI activist, Bheemappa Gadad from Belagavi, has urged the advocates including Fali Nariman to immediately return the fees which they received from the government to avoid loss to the state's exchequer.
So far, 580 sittings have been conducted by Cauvery Water Tribunal starting from July 28, 1990. As per RTI information provided by the Water Resources Department, the advocates attending the Cauvery tribunal sittings were paid Rs 39.52 crore. Their last fee was paid on August 17, 2016.
Among the team of advocates who were paid the fee are Anil Diwan Rs 13.91 crore, Fali Nariman Rs 7.74 crore, Sharad Javali Rs 4.58 crore and Mohan Katarki Rs 4.47 crore. Brijesh Kalappa got Rs 82.5 lakh, S.P. Singh Rs 2.53 crore, Ranveer Singh Rs 35.14 lakh, S.C. Sharma Rs 52.10 lakh.
The advocates who attended to cases before the tribunal were not able to safeguard the government's interests, said Mr Gadad. “The advocates should immediately return the crores they took from the government without causing any loss to the state's exchequer,” he added.
In case of Mahadayi, the tribunal had 306 sittings from November 2004 to September 2016 for which the advocates were paid Rs 39.69 crore. The amount was paid to them until July 31, 2016, according to RTI information.
Advocates who were paid in Mahadayi and Cauvery cases are (total fees paid to them): Rs 26.24 crore (Anil Diwan), Rs 14.76 crore (Fali Nariman), Rs 9.40 crore (Sharat Jawali), Rs 7.85 crore (Mohan Katarki), Rs 3.89 crore (Brijesh Kalappa), Rs 2.53 crore (S.P. Singh), Rs 1.5 crore (Ranveer Singh), Rs 1.46 crore (S.C. Sharma), Rs 1.8 crore (Basavaprabhu Patil) and Rs 1.20 crore (R.S. Papu).
