Chief Minister Jagadish Shettar on Monday reminded Prime Minister Manmohan Singh not to notify the final award of the Cauvery Water Disputes Tribunal before hearing the Karnataka delegation led by him.
In a letter dated December 12, Mr. Shettar told Dr. Singh that in continuation of his letter dated December 9, that he held a meeting of all the floor leaders and Members of Parliament of the Cauvery basin on December 15 where it was resolved to take a delegation to him and represent the views of the State on the notification of the final award of the tribunal.
Since a civil appeal was pending before the Supreme Court and also the application filed before the CWDT under Section 5 (3) of Inter-State Water Disputes Act, the State had expressed its reservation to the notification of the final award as well as constitution of the Cauvery Monitoring Board, he added.
Therefore, Mr. Shettar said that he would request the Union government that it should not take a unilateral decision to notify the final order dated February 5, 2007 without consulting the States concerned. In the light of the above, he said that the delegation would call on the Prime Minister and appeal to him personally.
He said that he would bring a delegation of all the floor leaders of the Karnataka legislature as well as MPs of the Cauvery basin. Meanwhile, the Resident Commissioner in New Delhi, he said, had requested Prime Minister’s Office seeking an appointment for a meeting.
He also requested him to indicate a date and time convenient to him to present the State’s case and impress upon the Prime Minister the need to consult all the States concerned.
Reading out the letter to the reporters, Law and Parliamentary Minister S. Suresh Kumar recalled that the Union Law Ministry had given its categorical opinion that the final award could not be published unless the cases pending before the Supreme Court were disposed of.
The Minister requested it to reiterate the stand before the Prime Minister, if its opinion was sought by the latter.
