S M Krishna apologises to SC

TNN / Oct 29, 2002, 00:02 IST

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NEW DELHI: Karnataka Chief Minister S M Krishna on Monday tendered an "unconditional apology" to the Supreme Court and said his government "erred" by not releasing Cauvery water to Tamil Nadu.

Farmers renew stir to protest release of water

If I were in Krishna's shoes...

Cauvery dispute: Full coverage

TOI edit: Votes and Water

TOI comment

Video report

NEW DELHI: Karnataka Chief Minister SM Krishna "unconditionally" apologised to the Supreme Court on Monday for notreleasing Cauvery water to Tamil Nadu, but the sword of contempt actioncontinues to hang over his head.A Bench, comprising Chief Justice B NKirpal, Justice Y K Sabharwal and Justice Arijit Pasayat kept Krishna''s apologyon record and said it will decide on the two contempt petitions filed againsthim by the Tamil Nadu government on November 1.As Karnataka counsel Anil BDivan told the Bench that the state had started releasing 10,000 cusecs of waterdaily from Monday, the judges said: "Your generosity will be measured by yourattitude at the time of scarcity ... You (Karnataka) do not have the spirit ofsharing. You want to keep everything to yourself. That is selfishness."But the judges assured Karnataka that it did not face a constitutionalcrisis now. "We are happy to know a constitutional crisis has blown over.Karnataka has dutifully said we are implementing the court''s order." TheBench said: "We are only interested in seeing implementation of the court''sorder.

It gives us no pleasure to punish anybody. What caused us great anguishis that the state, foremost in development, showed scant respect to the court''sorder. It is disgraceful." When Divan conceded that Karnataka had erred,the Bench said, "Curiously enough you have a fight with all your neighbours -Kerala, Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh - with regard to water." However,Tamil Nadu''s counsel K K Venugopal said release of water by Karnataka fromMonday should not be construed as obeying the court''s order in totality.Referring to Venugopal''s arguments, the Bench said: "It is not that thepast sins of Karnataka have been washed away. It is only that they have mendedtheir way so as to request us to take a lenient view." The Bench clarifiedthat it had not yet accepted the apology. "It is only on record. Let''s see howthings work out. Let''s see whether your (Tamil Nadu''s) farmers get water andalso those in Pondicherry".The Bench said Krishna''s affidavit did notcontain any information about the quantity of water released from the reservoir.Thus, the court asked the Centre to find out the quantity of water received atMettur dam in Tamil Nadu and inform the court about it on November 1.Politics aside, the long-term solution lies in waterconservance and changing the crop patterns. Tamil Nadu''s irrigation techniquesare highly wasteful of water and Karnataka grows sugarcane and paddy, both waterintensive crops. Efforts must be made to streamline irrigation methods andeducate farmers on the need for cultivating less water intensivecrops.Â Farmers renew stir to protest release of waterÂ If I were in Krishna''s shoes...Â Â Â Â Video report Â Â Â Â Cauvery dispute: Full coverageÂ Â Â Â TOI edit: Votes and Water

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