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Mullaperiyar Dam: Presidential Reference suggested

On the Mullaperiyar dam issue that is now before the Supreme Court, K. Subramanian, Senior Advocate and a former Advocate General of Tamil Nadu, has issued the following statement:

“In a statement released to the press (as reported in The Hindu on November 14, in the Chennai Edition) the Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu expressed regret over the Supreme Court’s decision to refer the Mullaiperiyar dam issue to a five-member Constitution Bench. He stated: “We do not know to whom we should represent to see to it that the adage ‘justice delayed, justice denied’ does not come true.”

“…[W]hen the State of Karnataka promulgated the Karnataka Cauvery Basin Irrigation Protection Ordinance, 1991, with the object of overriding the interim order made by the Cauvery Water Tribunal constituted under the Inter-State Water Disputes Act, 1956, reserving to Karnataka the right to decide the quantity of water from the inter-State river to be appropriated by it even during the pendency of the adjudication of the dispute before the tribunal, the Government of Tamil Nadu approached the Union of India to request the President of India to obtain the opinion of the Supreme Court regarding the validity of the provisions of the Karnataka ordinances. Thereupon the President referred three questions touching on the validity of the ordinances to the Supreme Court in what is known as Special Reference No.1 of 1991 dated July 27, 1991.

“Upon such reference being made by the President, the Constitution Bench of the Supreme Court, after hearing the parties concerned, gave a verdict by answering the reference on Nov. 22, 1991, that is, within a period of four months from the date of reference.

“Since the Kerala Legislature enacted the Kerala Irrigation and Water Conservation (Amendment) Act, 2006, within a few days of a judgment being delivered by the Supreme Court (the case is reported in AIR 2006 SC 1428: Mullaiperiyar Environmental Protection Forum Vs. Union of India & Ors) permitting the water level of the Mullaiperiyar dam to be raised to 142 feet and the further strengthening of the dam for raising the level to 152 feet, the situation is identical.

“The Tamil Nadu Government may therefore initiate action to seek a Presidential Reference on the issues arising out of the Kerala Act to the Supreme Court. This process may mitigate the delay in the judicial process on this issue.”

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