Insisting that all political parties should take equal responsibility for the State’s stand on the Cauvery, Chief Minister Siddaramaiah said on Thursday that the all-party meet had taken the decision to allow the State’s legal team, headed by Fali S. Nariman, to finalise the submission to the Supreme Court on the quantum of Cauvery waters to be released to Tamil Nadu.
While arguing the case before the Supreme Court on September 5, Mr. Nariman had expressed the willingness to release water at the rate of 10,000 cusecs to Tamil Nadu, keeping in mind the State’s main petition challenging the Cauvery Water Disputes Tribunal’s final award, which is likely to come up for hearing on October 18.
Addressing presspersons after the Congress Coordination Committee meeting here, the Chief Minister said Tamil Nadu had demanded release of water at the rate of 20,000 cusecs while the Supreme Court directed Karnataka to release water at 15,000 cusecs for 10 days. Mr. Nariman had proposed to discharge water at 10,000 cusecs for six days.
Unfortunately, the court directed the State to release water at 15,000 cusecs for 10 days, he said. “Mr. Nariman did not consult the State government about the willingness to release water at 10,000 cusecs to Tamil Nadu. Mr. Nariman proposed it as a goodwill gesture,” Mr. Siddaramaiah said.
‘Don’t cast aspersions’Defending Mr. Nariman’s legal expertise, he said, “Don’t cast aspersions on Mr. Nariman … He is a legal luminary, having 32 years of experience.”
The Chief Minister said, “Mr. Nariman did not consult the State on the release of water to Tamil Nadu during the tenure of Jagadish Shettar government. But he (Mr. Nariman) has safeguarded the State’s interests while arguing the case before the Supreme Court.”
Published - September 09, 2016 03:46 am IST
