K'taka wants to resolve Pennaiyar water sharing dispute with Tamil Nadu through talks: DK Shivakumar
New Delhi, Jun 30: Karnataka wants to resolve the Pennaiyar river water sharing dispute with Tamil Nadu through dialogue, Deputy Chief Minister D K Shivakumar said on Friday and urged the Centre not to form a tribunal for it.
His remarks come amid the Union Jal Shakti Ministry's decision to set up the inter-state river water dispute tribunal before July 5.
"I have requested the central government minister (Gajendra Singh Shekhawat) not to form the tribunal to resolve the water sharing dispute of Pennaiyar river. Karnataka wants to resolve this issue amicably through talks," Shivakumar, who holds the water resources portfolio, told reporters here.
He met Shekhawat on Thursday to discuss issues related to irrigation in Karnataka.
The deputy chief minister said though the Tamil Nadu government has been demanding the constitution of a tribunal before the Supreme Court, Karnataka has been opposing it.
Recently, the Supreme Court had asked the Jal Shakti Ministry to clarify its position on a complaint filed by Tamil Nadu for setting up the tribunal. The ministry has said a new tribunal will be set up before July 5.
Karnataka is building a dam across the Markandeya river near Yargol village in Kolar district to provide drinking water to the Kolar, Malur and Bangarpet taluks, and 40 other villages. It has obtained all the required permissions to build the dam at a cost of Rs 240 crore.
Tamil Nadu, however, has objected to the project and claimed that since the Markandeya river is a tributary of the Pennaiyar river, dam construction by Karnataka would obstruct its natural flow to the downstream.
It has also alleged that Karnataka has taken up construction of a reservoir across the Markandeya river diverting surplus waters of the Varthur tank.
Besides the Pennaiyar river water issue, Shivakumar said he has also requested the Union minister to give early approval for the Mekedatu, Mahadayi project, and notify the long pending Krishna Water Dispute Tribunal final award.
He also requested the Centre to release funds to the Upper Bhadra project under Accelerated Irrigation Benefits Programme (AIBP).
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Broken relationships don't automatically amount to abetment of suicide: SC
New Delhi (PTI): Broken relationships, while emotionally distressing, do not automatically amount to abetment of suicide in the absence of intention leading to the criminal offence, the Supreme Court on Friday said.
The observations came from a bench of Justices Pankaj Mithal and Ujjal Bhuyan in a judgement, which overturned the conviction of one Kamaruddin Dastagir Sanadi by the Karnataka High Court for the offences of cheating and abetment of suicide under the IPC.
"This is a case of a broken relationship, not criminal conduct," the judgment said.
Sanadi was initially charged under Sections 417 (cheating), 306 (abetment of suicide), and 376 (rape) of the IPC.
While the trial court acquitted him of all the charges, the Karnataka High Court, on the state's appeal, convicted him of cheating and abetment of suicide, sentencing him to five years imprisonment and imposing Rs 25,000 in fine.
According to the FIR registered at the mother's instance, her 21-year-old daughter was in love with the accused for the past eight years and died by suicide in August, 2007, after he refused to keep his promise to marry.
Writing a 17-page judgement, Justice Mithal analysed the two dying declarations of the woman and noted that neither was there any allegation of a physical relationship between the couple nor there was any intentional act leading to the suicide.
The judgement therefore underlined broken relationships were emotionally distressing, but did not automatically amount to criminal offences.
"Even in cases where the victim dies by suicide, which may be as a result of cruelty meted out to her, the courts have always held that discord and differences in domestic life are quite common in society and that the commission of such an offence largely depends upon the mental state of the victim," said the apex court.
The court further said, "Surely, until and unless some guilty intention on the part of the accused is established, it is ordinarily not possible to convict him for an offence under Section 306 IPC.”
The judgement said there was no evidence to suggest that the man instigated or provoked the woman to die by suicide and underscored a mere refusal to marry, even after a long relationship, did not constitute abetment.
