Former Supreme Court judges have termed the resolution passed by the two Houses of Karnataka on September 23 to deny Tamil Nadu Cauvery water an ill-advised misadventure. They say the resolution is no match for the constitutional might of the Supreme Court as the final arbiter of inter-State water disputes.
Former Supreme Court judge K.T. Thomas said the resolution “is only fit to be kept in the records of the Karnataka legislature and has no authority”. “At best, the resolution can be treated as an expression of opinion or a criticism of the Supreme Court’s order. Everyone has the right to criticise a court order. But the Supreme Court is the final authority in resolving inter-State water disputes,” he said on Tuesday.
“The Supreme Court’s mandate to be the final arbiter of inter-State water disputes is derived from the Indian Constitution itself, not even Parliament. The constitutional makers gave the Supreme Court this power to prevent a situation in which one State will pass a resolution against the other and a constitutional crisis will ensue,” former SC judge K.S. Radhakrishnan said.
