Sources from New Delhi have stated that the Supreme Court on Tuesday asked Karnataka to continue releasing 2,000 cusecs of Cauvery water to neighboring Tamil Nadu. It posted appeals filed by Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and Kerala against the Cauvery Water Dispute Tribunal’s decision on water sharing for July 11 for final hearing.
Meanwhile a Bench of Justices Dipak Misra, Amitava Roy and A.M. Khanwilkar scheduled back-to-back hearings from July 11 for 15 working days. Earlier on December 9, 2016, the Supreme Court, in a judgment, refused the Centre’s stand that the court lacked jurisdiction to hear the Cauvery river dispute. It had upheld the constitutional power of the court to hear the appeals filed by the three States against the tribunal award.
The Centre had argued that the parliamentary law of Inter State
Water Disputes Act of 1956 coupled with Article 262 (2) excluded the Supreme
Court from hearing or deciding on any appeals against the Cauvery Tribunal’s
decision. The Centre had claimed that the tribunal award was final.
The Bench, however, held that the remedy under Article 136 was a constitutional right and it cannot be taken away by legislation much less by invoking the principle of election or estoppel.
