SC to hear plea against Centre on Cauvery Management Board

The Supreme Court agreed on Monday to hear a contempt plea of the Tamil Nadu government against the Centre for not constituting the Cauvery Management Board (CMB).

A bench comprising Chief Justice Dipak Misra and Justices A M Khanwilkar and DY Chandrachud posted the matter for April 9. “We understand Tamil Nadu’s difficulty of not getting water. We will resolve the issue,” it said.

Tamil Nadu had sought contempt action against the Centre for “failure” to frame the scheme for constitution of the CMB and the Cauvery Water Regulation Committee within six weeks, as directed by the apex court on February 16.

Tamil Nadu, in its contempt plea, said the Centre was bound to give effect to the judgement by framing a scheme so that the authorities of the CMB and the Cauvery Water Regulation Committee were put in place within six weeks. It said the authorities needed to be in place so that decisions of the tribunal as modified by the SC were implemented in accordance with the time schedule prescribed therein.

The Centre, meanwhile, in its petition had said that since there were divergent views between TN and Karnataka on the constitution of the CMB, the SC should clarify whether “it is open to the central government to frame the scheme under 6A at variance with the recommendations contained in the report of the Cauvery Water Dispute Tribunal (CWDT) regarding the CMB”.

Karnataka has opposed the constitution of the CMB. The Union government also said that considering the sensitivity of the issues involved, the SC may also clarify whether it had any flexibility in modifying the composition of the CMB. PTI

NEW DELHI:

AFP Protesters try to enter a government building during an agitation in Chennai on Monday. Protests broke out across the state against the Centre’s delay in setting up the Cauvery Management Board.