New Delhi [India]: The Supreme Court will hear a plea regarding the Cauvery dispute as its interim order, directing Karnataka to release 2000 cusecs of Cauvery water per day to Tamil Nadu, ends today.
The apex court had on December 15, said that the interim order on Cauvery Water Disputes would continue till January 4.
Earlier, on December 9, the court upheld its constitutional power and right to hear appeals filed by Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and Kerala, against the 2007 Cauvery Water Disputes Tribunal final award.
A three-judge Bench, headed by Supreme Court Justice Dipak Misra, rejected the Centre’s stand that the apex court had no jurisdiction to hear the Cauvery river dispute.
The Centre had argued that the parliamentary law of Inter-State Water Disputes Act of 1956, coupled with Article 262 (2) of the Indian Constitution, excluded the Supreme Court from hearing or deciding any appeals against the Cauvery Tribunal’s decision. The Centre claimed the tribunal award was final.
The Centre said it would frame a scheme for the implementation of the tribunal award, and the scheme, once prepared, would be placed before both Houses of the Parliament for approval.
The tribunal, in its final award, had determined the usable quantum of water of the Cauvery at 740 tmcft.
Karnataka is entitled to 270 tmcft, Tamil Nadu to 419 tmcft, Kerala 30 tmcft, Puducherry 7 tmcft, and 14 tmcft is meant for environmental purposes, the tribunal had said.
All three states have opposed the Centre’s stand, contending that a parliamentary law cannot stop the Supreme Court from exercising its constitutional power to hear appeals. (ANI)