Supreme Court defers decision in Cauvery river dispute case; asks TN, Karnataka to await CWMA report

The Supreme Court on Friday indicated its disinclination to decide on how much Cauvery river water from Karnataka should be released to Tamil Nadu, without first examining the report of the designated expert body. .A three-judge bench of Justices BR Gavai, PS Narasimha and Prashant Kumar Mishra said it would await the report of the Cauvery Water Management Authority (CWMA), which would also indicate whether Tamil Nadu's share over the river water should be increased or reduced.The report is slated to be submitted by September 1, when the matter is next listed..At the hearing today, Senior Advocates CS Vaidyanathan and Mukul Rohatgi appeared for the Tamil Nadu government. They requested that 10,000 cusecs of water be released by Karnataka in the interim, to make up for the water shortage in the State.Senior Advocate Shyam Divan, appearing for the Karnataka government, then said that there was a shortage of rainfall this current year.Justice Gavai then remarked,"Why do you not go before the authority? We do not have expertise in this. How can we pass any order? Please approach the authorities."Justice Narasimha added that the authority's orders were not being complied with..Rohatgi then said that Tamil Nadu was running out of water and that there is a 'huge deficit'.Additional Solicitor General Aishwarya Bhati, appearing for the Central government, then informed the Bench that the CWMA would be meeting on Monday. "We find that it will be appropriate that the CWMA submits its report on whether the directions issued for discharge of water have been complied or not, and in the meantime their next order will also be on record. ASG is requested to communicate this order to the authority and have the report submitted to us by next Friday. Karnataka states that orders by authorities are adverse to its interest and that it has filed an application for reducing the share allotted. On the contrary, Tamil Nadu has sought an increase in the share. Let this be decided by the authorities," the Bench said..The Supreme Court was hearing the State of Tamil Nadu's application seeking fresh directions for release of Cauvery river water from Karnataka.The Tamil Nadu government has claimed that the neighbouring State "changed its stand", and has released only a reduced quantum of 8,000 cusecs of water as against 15,000 cusecs that was agreed upon earlier.The application by the Tamil Nadu government was filed days after Chief Minister MK Stalin wrote to Prime Minister Narendra Modi seeking his intervention in the matter.In a counter-affidavit, the Karnataka government told the Supreme Court that the neighbouring State's plea is misconceived since there is a distress condition due to the failure of the monsoon. Further, it claimed that Tamil Nadu has misused the carry-over storage of water by drawing 69.777 TMC excessively..In February 2018, the Supreme Court passed its verdict in the Cauvery river case, observing that water bodies are national assets and that no one State could claim exclusive rights over them.The Karnataka-Tamil Nadu dispute over the water of the Cauvery river dates back to two agreements in 1892 and 1924 between the erstwhile Madras Presidency and the Princely State of Mysore.After several rounds of failed negotiations, the Supreme Court directed the constitution of the Cauvery Water Disputes Tribunal, which had given its award in 2007, allowing Tamil Nadu to draw a fixed amount of water every day.However, the dispute continued after both states filed petitions to review the decision.In 2016, Tamil Nadu again petitioned the Supreme Court as Karnataka submitted that it had no more water to share from its reservoir. Subsequently, the top court had asked the Central government to constitute a Cauvery Management Board (CMB).The two States have another water-sharing dispute pending before the apex court. That case concerns the Pennaiyar river. The Tamil Nadu government had filed an original suit in the matter against the Karnataka government and the Central government..Follow Bar and Bench channel on WhatsAppDownload the Bar and Bench Mobile app for instant access to the latest legal news.