"I request Mr. Nariman not to argue for Karnataka before the Supreme Court," said Leader of the Opposition in the legislative council, K.S. Eshwarappa.
Reacting to the reports of senior counsel Mr. Nariman demanding an apology from three senior leaders of BJP including himself, State BJP president B.S. Yeddyurappa and Leader of the Opposition in the legislative assembly Jagdish Shettar for their critical remarks on him and his team of advocates, Mr. Eshwarappa said there was no question of tendering an apology.
He said Mr.Nariman had acted against the interest of Karnataka by giving consent for release of 10,000 cusecs of Cauvery water to Tamil Nadu before the apex court without showing minimum courtesy of consulting the Chief Minister on such a serious matter, as pointed out by Mr. Siddaramaiah himself.
Also, though JD (S) State president H.D. Kumarswamy had expressed similar views, Mr. Nariman wanted apology only from BJP leaders: "Is he a member of any political party?" he asked.
He said BJP leaders had nothing personal against the senior counsel, but was disappointed because he could not effectively defend the State before the court.
D.V. Sadananda Gowda, Union Minister of Statistics and Programme Implementation and Mr. Yeddyurappa, who were present, also clarified that they had nothing personal against Mr.Nariman and held respect for him. It was up to the Chief Minister to decide on the matter.
