You are in contempt, CJI tells Centre in Cauvery issue
New Delhi, May 8 : Telling the Centre that it was in "sheer contempt", the Supreme Court on Tuesday directed the Secretary, Water Resources Ministry, to be personally present in the court on May 14 along with the scheme for the implementation of the Cauvery Tribunal Award.
The bench of Chief Justice Dipak Misra, Justice A.M. Khanwilkar and Justice D.Y.Chandrachud directed the presence of the top Water Resources official as Attorney General K.K.Venugopal sought six days' time for the Karnataka election to be over before the government takes a decision.
"You (Centre) are in sheer contempt of the court," the CJI told Venugopal.
The AG said the draft scheme for the implementation of the Cauvery award was before the Cabinet and the meeting has not taken place as Prime Minister Narendra Modi and other ministers were busy campaigning in Karnataka, where assembly elections are slated to be held on May 12.
He sought six days' time for filing the scheme but senior counsel Shekhar Naphade, appearing for Tamil Nadu, asked why it cannot be filed on Thursday and Friday.
As Venugopal said the officers who instruct (on the matter) are not working on Saturdays and Sundays, Naphade took a jibe, saying: "We are servants for 24 hours, 365 days", an obvious reference to the statement by a top functionary of the government.
When the AG asked "Who said that", Naphade replied: "You want me to quote?" and added, the top functionary said it last week.
The AG justified the Centre seeking more time saying that it was a sensitive matter having a bearing on the law and order situation.
Naphade said that they will not implement the order of the court on the grounds of law and order.
On another occasion, when the AG said that the release of water was not within the authority of the Cauvery Management Board, Naphade was quick to point out that the people of Tamil Nadu will not get water, no matter what happens.
Noting that Central government has not framed for scheme for implementing its February 16 judgment, the top court, in the last hearing on May 3, had observed that "... Karnataka will release water as per Tribunal award. You will release 4 TMC of water. Please see how much water can be released by end of May."
Karnataka has told the top court that it has already released the Cauvery water that Tamil Nadu was entitled to under the "distress formula" due to deficient rainfall and needed remaining water for drinking purposes in Bengaluru and the areas falling under its part of the Cauvery basin.
However, Tamil Nadu in its response has contended that Karnataka had enough water to release 4 TMC of water to cover the shortfall of 1.4 TMC for April and the allocation of 2.4 TMC for May this year
Tamil Nadu has told the apex court that "Karnataka has 19.834 TMC ft. of water as on May 4 in its four reservoirs" and the storage in "Mettur Dam is 9.502 TMC ft. (the utilizable storage being only 4.502 TMC ft)".
Thus, Karnataka "is in a better position and can easily spare the 4 TMC ft" even after meeting the requirement of drinking water supply for May, that is 1.6 TMC ft, Tamil Nadu submitted.
The top court by its February 16 judgment had asked the Centre to frame a scheme for the implementation of the tribunal award and its judgment. It had given the Centre six weeks time, that came to end on March 30, for this purpose.
Tamil Nadu had on March 31 moved the top court seeking contempt action against the Centre for "willful disobedience" in carrying out the mandate of the apex court on constituting the Cauvery Management Board for which the six-week deadline expired on Friday.
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Karnataka Assembly passes bill on Palace Grounds amid opposition protest
Bengaluru, Mar 6 (PTI): The Karnataka Assembly on Thursday passed the Bangalore Palace (Utilisation and Regulation of Land) Bill, reaffirming state ownership over 472 acres and 16 guntas of land here, amid protests by the opposition BJP.
During the discussion, Karnataka Law and Parliamentary Affairs Minister H K Patil said the state government would have to provide Rs 200 crore worth of Transfer of Development Rights (TDR) for each acre of land, which means that for 15 acres, Rs 3,000 crore worth of TDR would be issued.
“If we accept it, then this 2-km stretch of road will become the costliest road in the world. If we accept it then how are we going to develop the city in later stages? How will you carry out development works?” asked Patil.
He also pointed out that this question was raised not only under the Congress government but also during the previous BJP regime.
However, the BJP-led cabinet has opposed the project.
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“Suppose we agree to it then, what will be the valuation of the 472 acres? It will be lakhs and lakhs of crores of rupees. Can we accept?” Patil wondered.
The Minister said the government had previously exercised its executive powers to issue an ordinance, which was approved by the Governor. Now the government is bringing a bill with two amendments.
“In this bill, we have made provisions either to develop or drop the road development work,” Patil explained.
However, BJP state president B Y Vijayendra and BJP MLA Arvind Bellad opposed the move, alleging that the government was targetting Yaduveer Krishna Datta Chamaraja Wadiyar, the scion of the Mysuru royal family, and the BJP MP from Mysuru-Kodagu constituency out of political vendetta.
“We talk of 472 acres of Mysuru Maharaja but here there are many Maharajas who too own 400 acres, 500 acres and thousands of acres of land, which is known to everyone,” Bellad said.
He slammed the Congress government, saying political power should not be misused for personal vendetta.
“Why (the then Deputy Chief Minister) Siddaramaiah brought the law in 1996 pertaining to the Bangalore Palace? Why are you setting eyes on the Bangalore Palace?” he asked.
Vijayendra charged that Wadiyar won the election on BJP ticket so the state government realised that it should acquire it.
“This bill has been brought for political vengeance. We are not discussing whether Rs 3,000 crore is exorbitant or not but the moment Yaduveer became MP, the state government woke up. You should be ashamed. This house should not be used for political vendetta,” he said.
Intervening, Minister Priyank Kharge said Vijayendra should not have raised it because the intention behind building the road was noble.
According to him, the BJP too had the same plan when it was in power.
He sought to know whether thousands of crores of rupees be spent on a road which should have cost significantly less.
In response, BJP MLA B A Basavaraj (Byrathi) said issuing TDR will not be a burden on the state government and appealed to the ruling Congress to reconsider its stance.
Minister Ramalinga Reddy too explained that the Karnataka government acquired the entire land way back in 1996.
The Mysuru royal family went to the High Court, which gave ruling in favour of the state government. The royal family then approached the Supreme Court, where the case is still going on, the Minister pointed out.
“The final judgment is pending in the SC to decide whether the acquisition was right or wrong. If the SC says it’s the royal family’s property then let it be so. If the order is in the state government’s favour then we can take a decision. The bill is only about it,” Reddy explained.
Speaker U T Khader then called for a voice vote and the bill was passed by the Assembly amidst opposition BJP’s discontent.
