Karnataka has paid over ₹122 crore to 41 lawyers since 1990 to argue river water disputes with other states

The Karnataka government has paid Senior Advocates Anil Divan, Fali S Nariman, SS Jawali, Shyam Divan and Mohan Katarki more than ₹87 crore in appearance fees over the last three decades to argue cases related to river water sharing disputes with other states..In total, the State government has paid more than ₹122 crore in fees to the lawyers since 1990 for representing it before the Supreme Court and tribunals in disputes regarding the distribution of Cauvery, Krishna and Mahadayi river water.The information was revealed by the State’s Water Resources Department in response to the details sought by activist Bhimappa Gundappa Gadad under the Right To Information Act (RTI Act)..The documents reveal that a total of ₹122,75,95,882 was paid as fees to 41 lawyers for arguments before the Supreme Court and tribunals.While the late Senior Advocate Anil Divan was paid ₹29.78 crore, Fali Nariman received ₹27.45 crore, Mohan Katarki was paid ₹13.39 crore, SS Javali got ₹12.61 crore and Shyam Divan was paid ₹4.63 crore..Among the former Advocates General who represented the State in these matters, Ravivarma Kumar was paid ₹64.7 lakh, S Vijay Shankar received ₹13 lakh, Ashok Haranahalli was paid ₹2.1 lakh and BT Parthasarathy received ₹1.5 lakh.Madhusudan R Naik and Prabhuling K Navadgi, who also served as AGs, were paid ₹1,57,58,000 and ₹23,54,215 respectively.Supreme Court Advocate Brijesh Kalappa was paid ₹6,51,35,544 and Senior Advocate Uday Holla was paid ₹1,56,60,000..The Central government constituted the Cauvery Water Disputes Tribunal (CWDT) on June 2, 1990, for adjudication of disputes between Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Kerala and Puducherry. The data reveals that from June 2, 1990 to July 10, 2017, an amount of ₹54.13 crore was paid as lawyers' fees in the Cauvery matter before the tribunal. A total of 580 sittings have been held.Similarly, the Krishna Water Disputes Tribunal (KWDT) was set up in 2004 to adjudicate disputes between Maharashtra, Karnataka and the erstwhile Andhra Pradesh. From then till November 29, 2013, 295 hearings were held and ₹43.24 crore was paid to lawyers, according to information revealed under the RTI Act.The Mahadayi Water Disputes Tribunal was constituted in 2010 for resolution of disputes between Goa, Karnataka and Maharashtra. Till December 1, 2017, 97 hearings were held and ₹25.38 crore was paid to lawyers.