New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Wednesday reserved its verdict on a batch of appeals relating to the Cauvery water dispute, even as Tamil Nadu maintained that the court should not leave it to Parliament to frame a scheme for implementation of the judgment.
A three-judge Bench of Chief Justices Dipak Misra and Justices Amitav Roy and D.Y. Chandrachud reserved judgment on appeals against the Cauvery Disputes Tribunal's final award of February 2007 on allocation of water for Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and Kerala and Union Territory of Puducherry.
Though the court had asked independent experts to adduce evidence, the bench said it was not considering the same. Prof. A.K. Gossain, water expert, who was brought in by Karnataka pleaded for a holistic approach to address the problem. When Tamil Nadu wanted the court to allow the Chairman of Cauvery cell R. Subramanian to adduce evidence, the court being a witness he will not be permitted. Later the CJI said, "we are not seeking the help of experts."
While it took nearly two decades for the Tribunal to render its final decision in 2007, it has taken a decade for the arguments to conclude in the cross appeals against the award filed by the States of Tamil nadu, Karnataka and Kerala.
Concluding his arguments Mr. Naphade said Tamil Nadu was of the view that the issue of framing a scheme for setting up of the Cauvery Management Board should not be left to the wisdom of Parliament. He said Tamil Nadu which was dependent on Cauvery water was always at the receiving end as Karnataka had never implemented in full any order passed by the Cauvery Water Disputes Tribunal or by the court. He rejected Karnataka's stand that allocation of water could be determined only at the end of the crop season or at the end of the water year.
