The Tamil Nadu government has sought compensation of Rs 2, 480 crore from neighbouring Karnataka for not complying with the Supreme Court order on releasing Cauvery water.
The Supreme Court while hearing the issue on Monday asked both the states to file a list of witnesses in a week’s time. The top court will continue to hear the matter on a day-to-day basis until February 7.
The three-judge-bench comprised of Justice Amitava Roy, Justice AM Khanwilkar and Justice Dipak Misra maintained its interim order asking Karnataka to release 2, 000 cusecs of water daily.
This comes after the apex court on January 4 said that it will conduct a day-to-day hearing on the appeals filed by Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and Kerala against the Cauvery Water Dispute Tribunal’s final order on the issue of water sharing.
On December 9, 2016, the court said that it had jurisdiction over hearing pleas from states on the issue.
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 argued that the tribunal’s decision in this regard was final. The responsibility to formulate schemes lay with the government, after which it would be placed before both the houses for its approval, the centre said.
Karnataka and Tamil Nadu witnessed widespread agitation over the Cauvery water dispute last September. While the Siddaramaiah government had initially opposed giving water to Tamil Nadu, stating deficient rainfall, the Supreme Court pulled up the state for not complying with its orders.