The passions over Cauvery are high not just in Karnataka and Tamil Nadu, but also at the real battleground – the Supreme Court of India. And the most passionate warrior, according to the accounts of reporters present at the SC, seems to be Karnataka’s water minister, MB Patil.
A Delhi-based journalist working with a Tamil news channel narrated to The News Minute how Patil was on his toes at the SC, jostling for space, whispering arguments and figures to the counsel, passing on chits of information, making sure the right people saw it and that the judges heard the arguments.
What’s more, at one point he got so emotional, that he shouted out the answers to a question raised by the judge himself.
Journalist Arvind Gunasekar, who works with Thanthi TV, wrote on Facebook how the minister, who was standing in the visitor's box, kept prompting the state's counsel whenever the judges posed a question.
In his post he wrote:
“After a very long time I saw a Politician being so much dedicated to his post.
Karnataka Water Resources Minister MB Patil was also present at the Supreme Court along with the state's Chief Secretary Arvind Jadav for the hearing of the #Cauvery matter. He was standing in the visitors box with Karnataka journalists and throughout the hearing he was on his toes. Every now and then he got the paper and pen from the nearby journalist and sent a chit with data/answer to his counsels. Whenever Judges posed a question to his counsels he would whisper the reply and at one point he got so emotional and said it loud. It was not necessary for him to come to the hearing and stand all the day but he did and it showed his dedication and involvement for the cause. Kudos Sir !”
Arvind, who was in the court during the hearing, told The News Minute, "A minister need not be even present in the court. Every time the lawyers gave unsatisfactory answers, Patil, who was 10-15 feet away from the lawyers, would pass on the answers to the advocate Fali Nariman.”
“Even though the room was crowded, he would manage to squeeze through and check if it was reaching the right person. At one point the judge asked a question on rainfall deficit or water inflow, Patil just shouted the answer out. Then other advocates told him that he wasn't allowed to do so.”
But the lawyers sympathised with him. “An hour into the hearing, some of the lawyers asked him to sit near them. He was given a seat three rows behind them," he said.