M A I N   N E W S

SC notices to Krishna, 4 others

New Delhi, September 23
The Supreme Court today issued notices to Karnataka Chief Minister S.M. Krishna and four others on a contempt petition filed by Tamil Nadu, alleging violation of orders of the court and the Cauvery River Authority (CRA) by its neighbour on release of the stipulated quantity of water.

A three-judge Bench comprising Chief Justice B.N. Kirpal, Mr Justice K.G. Balakrishnan and Mr Justice Arijit Pasayat also issued notices to Karnataka Water Resources Minister S.K. Patil, the state Chief Secretary and the Water Resources Secretary, asking all of them to respond to the contempt petition latest by September 30, the next date of hearing.

The court also asked the Union Government to file an affidavit by September 27, detailing the daily inflow of water into the Mettur reservoir in Tamil Nadu “in order to ascertain whether directions of the CRA and the apex court are complied with”.

Appearing for Tamil Nadu, senior advocate K.K. Venugopal termed the actions of Karnataka in not releasing the stipulated quantity of water as “gross violation of the apex court orders for political gains”.

He said the court had ordered Karnataka to release 1.25 tmc ft water on a daily basis from September 4, which was in force till September 8. He said for the five days, Tamil Nadu was to receive 6.25 tmc ft of water, but Karnataka released only 2.3 tmc ft of water.

Terming that non-release of water was causing havoc for the “samba” crops, Mr Venugopal said as per the order of the CRA, which was headed by the Prime Minister, Karnataka was to release 0.8 tmc ft of water daily, but in the subsequent week, instead of the stipulated 5.6 tmc ft of water, the state released only 1.925 tmc ft of water.

He said a total of 7.5 tmc ft of water due to Tamil Nadu from Karnataka was never released by the neighbor. He said “it is clear from all reports that it is a conscious decision to defy the Supreme Court orders as well as those of the CRA”.

Counsel for Tamil Nadu said the stand taken by Karnataka not to release water was dangerous as it would strike the root of the federal fabric of the country.

Appearing for Karnataka, senior advocate Anil Divan said the court should keep in mind the interests of Indian farmers as a whole and not that of either farmers of Karnataka or Tamil Nadu.

He said Tamil Nadu alone got the benefit of return monsoon and not Karnataka. “The state could delay planting of “samba” crops till November so as to get the benefit of the return monsoon,” he added. PTI