The Supreme Court on Wednesday laid down three major modifications to the Cauvery Scheme draft that was submitted by the Centre on May 14.
While there was no clarity in the nomenclature of the scheme in its draft, SC has asked Centre to change the name of the authority to Board.
It has also directed Centre to change the headquarters from Bengaluru to Delhi. SC has also asked for removal of the clauses which read that the Centre’s decision is final and that the CMB should comply with the changes of Centre. The SC clearly specified that the Board alone has the authority to implement and award Cauvery water to the states. SC also added that no more dams can be built across Cauvery river.
SC rejected Karnataka and Kerala’s plea to defer its order and asked the Centre to submit the scheme with modifications on Thursday. Karnataka had requested SC to defer its hearing owing to its turbulent Government formation.
According to reports, Kerala Government too had requested for extension of time to respond to the draft scheme while Tamil Nadu opposed the adjournment plea.
Kerala also asked why the state was sharing 15% of Cauvery Authority’s expenses while the state received only 4% of water.
SC also turned down TN’s plea to appoint a retired Judge as the Chairman of the authority and also to discard the distress formula by the Cauvery authority.
The SC’s directions come right when several parties in TN have requested for an all-party meeting in the state. TN Government had put forward three requests based on the draft - to rename authority as board, to be made formal immediately and headquarters to be moved out of Bengaluru.
Makkal Needhi Maiam leader Kamal Haasan also announced that a meeting will be held in Chennai on May 19 calling for unity among all parties. “The meeting itself will be called TN’s voice for Cauvery,” he said.
Nearly three months after the Supreme Court directed the Centre to form a scheme implementing its judgment in the Cauvery dispute between Karnataka and Tamil Nadu, the Centre filed a draft of the scheme to the Supreme Court on May 14.
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