Don't hear Karnataka's plea: Tamil Nadu to Supreme Court

New Delhi: Tamil Nadu moved the Supreme Court on Monday seeking an extraordinary prayer not to hear any application from Karnataka relating to Cauvery water dispute till it complied with the directions of the apex court to release 42,000 cusecs of water to Tamil nadu, from September 21 to 27.

In its application which is to come up for hearing on Tuesday before a Bench of Justices Dipak Misra and Uday Lalit, the Tamil Nadu government also wanted the court not to hear the appeal filed by Karnataka challenging the final award of the Cauvery water disputes Tribunal on October 18, when all the appeals are listed for hearing.

It said the conscious refusal by the State of Karnataka to comply with the order and ensure the releases as per the Order dated 20.09.2016 and making good the shortfall as per Order dated 05.09.2016 and 12.09.2016 passed by this court to ensure drinking water requirements of Bengaluru is unjust and untenable and contrary to the final orders of the Tribunal passed in February 2007.

Tracing the defiant attitude of Karnataka right from the beginning, Tamil Nadu said Karnataka promulgated an Ordinance to nullify the interim order of the Tribunal dated 25.06.1991.

The apex court quashed the ordinance and held that the Ordinance is against the basic tenets of the rule of law and that such an act is an invitation to lawlessness and anarchy, in as much as the Ordinance is a manifestation of a desire on the part of the state to be a judge in its own cause and to defy the decisions of the judicial authorities.

TN said Karnataka's action forebodes evil consequences to the federal structure under the Constitution and opens doors for each state to act in the way it desires disregarding not only the rights of the other states, the orders passed by instrumentalities constituted under an Act of Parliament but also the provisions of the Constitution.

TN said the state and its instrumentalities are duty bound to act in aid of the Orders passed by this Court and should not make statements to the effect that the Order cannot be implemented which is a direct affront to this Court.

TN said the state government and its functionaries of state of Karnataka seem to believe that they can defy with impunity the Orders of this Court and treat it with contempt. The prestige and dignity of this Court is at stake and if the state government believes that their partisan interests should prevail over the interests of the other State and the failure of the due implementation of the order of this Court and the Constitutional provisions, the result would be total anarchy and the very foundation of constitutional democracy, independent judiciary and continuance of the federal structure of the Constitution would be in jeopardy.

Can release water in 2017: Karnataka
The Karnataka Government on Monday moved the SC seeking modification of the order directing it to release 6,000 cusecs of water to Tamil nadu daily from September 21 to 27 in such a way that it will release this deficit quantity before the end of the season — January 31, 2017.

Karnataka in its application said that the releases already ordered by this Court on September 20 be treated as shortfall to be cleared by the State subsequently. It reiterated the resolution passed by the Legislative assembly that in 2016-2017 there has been an acute situation of distress, but the shortfall will become known only at the end of the season.