Make Cauvery plan by May 3: SC tells Centre
The Chennai stadium will hold its first match of the season between Chennai Super Kings and Kolkata Knight Riders on Tuesday. The chairman of the T20 league, Rajeev Shukla, asked people not to politicise IPL and said the game was on.
Security arrangements have been stepped up at the stadium. The Tamil film industry, headlined by actor-politicians Rajinikanth and Kamal Haasan, observed a silent protest on Sunday amidst calls for organisers to stop the IPL games.
On Monday, the SC said it was anguished and surprised that the Centre had not taken any step to implement the verdict.
“We put in a lot of effort and struggled with the case. You (Centre) have to implement it now,” the bench told attorney general KK Venugopal.
“You must show your bonafide interest to respect our order. Frame a scheme and distribute the water,” CJI said, addressing the counsel for Karnataka, who assured the bench that water was being released as per the court directive.
Sharachchandra Lele, Distinguished Fellow at the Ashoka Trust for Research in Ecology and Environment, said the Cauvery Management Board or a similar autonomous authority is necessary because when monsoons fail, there has to be a body that can plan the allocation of resources.
Tamil Nadu law minister CV Shanmugham expressed satisfaction over the SC order. “We believe good will arise out of today’s order,” he said.
Political parties in the state, however, expressed disappointment at the Centre being given time till May 3.
Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam working president MK Stalin said protests over the demand for Cauvery board would continue and threatened that Prime Minister Narendra Modi would be greeted with black flags when he visits the state to inaugurate a defence exhibition on April 12. official familiar with the matter who asked not to be identified said his department is keeping an eye on proceedings at ICICI bank as is the banking regulator Reserve Bank of India.
One allegation against Kochhar is that ICICI Bank signed off on the loan to Videocon, even as Videocon chairman Venugopal Dhoot transferred his private investment in a company co-promoted with Deepak Kochhar, Chanda Kochhar’s husband, to the latter. Another is that Avista Corporate Finance, a company owned by Deepak Kochhar’s brother Rajiv Kochhar, advised Videocon on restructuring its debt, including that owed ICICI Bank – creating a potential conflict of interest issue. The Central Bureau of Investigation has named Deepak Kochhar and Dhoot in its preliminary enquiry, although it has not named Chanda Kochhar. Last week, Rajiv Kochhar was prevented from boarding a flight from Mumbai to Singapore by immigration officials. He has since been questioned by CBI.
The ICICI Bank official added that Chanda Kochhar has been attending office, that it is business as usual, and that she has told colleagues that she has no plans to resign because she believes she has done nothing wrong.