New Delhi: Expressing its unhappiness with the Centre over Cauvery river water sharing issue, the Supreme Court on Monday directed the government to submit its draft plan by May 3 regarding the implementation of its decision on water dispute.
“You have to frame the scheme and there is no escaping this task,” a Supreme Court bench headed by Chief Justice Dipak Misra observed.
On February 16, the apex court had directed the Centre to frame a scheme in six weeks for the distribution of Cauvery water. It had ordered for increasing the share of Cauvery river water for Karnataka and reducing it for Tamil Nadu.
“We don’t know why you have not finalised it till date. You better frame it and submit it to us. Why didn’t you come to us earlier if you had any confusion,” the bench asked Attorney General KK Venugopal.
However, Venugopal, citing the clarification application filed by the Centre said there were divergent views about the purport of the scheme and thus, the top court required to clarify whether the scheme has to be strictly in terms of the order by the Cauvery Water Tribunal.
A bench comprising Chief Justice Misra and Justices AM Khanwilkar and DY Chandrachud asked the Centre to formulate the draft in pursuance of its 465-page judgment on the decades-old water dispute.
The bench also said that the judgment on the dispute was made keeping in mind the Cauvery Water Disputes Tribunal (CWDT).
