Tamil Nadu government on Wednesday urged the Supreme Court to recall its earlier order constituting an empowered committee to review the safety aspect of the Mullaperiyar dam in Kerala.
Justice D K Jain, heading the five-judge Constitution Bench, which passed the order, however, said he would need to consult the other judges before passing any order on Tamil Nadu’s plea.
The judge pointed out that the earlier order constituting the empowered committee with former Chief Justice of India A S Anand as its head was passed with the consent of the two states and as such he needs to consult the other members of the Bench on the State’s recall plea.
In its application, Tamil Nadu told the Supreme Court that it was not interested in adjudicating the dispute with Kerala before the special “empowered” committee and instead wanted the apex court to examine the constitutional validity of a law passed by Kerala restricting the dam water level to 136 feet.
The State urged the apex court to decide the constitutional validity of Kerala passing the impugned legislation restricting the dam water level to 136 feet even though the Supreme Court had earlier permitted the state to extend the level to 142 feet.
“The judgement of this Hon’ble Court dated 27.02.2006 had clearly mandated that the State of Kerala cannot unilaterally affect the applicant’s right, either by legislation or by executive action”, it argued.
