CHENNAI: A delegation of AIADMK MPs led by Deputy Speaker of Lok Sabha, M Thambidurai on Tuesday submitted a memorandum to Prime Minister Narendra Modi at his office seeking his intervention in removing the bottlenecks in forming the Cauvery Management Board as directed by the Supreme Court.
The AIADMK MPs submitted the memorandum at PM’s office as they could not get an audience with the Prime Minister. The MPs urged the Prime Minister to direct the Union Ministry of Water Resources to withdraw the Interlocutory Application filed on October 3 challenging the SC directive on forming CMB forthwith.
The memorandum also urged the Centre to immediately comply with the orders of the SC on September 30 and constitute the CMB at once and render justice to the lakhs of farmers dependent on Cauvery water and the people of Tamil Nadu.
Recalling the developments and the directives of the SC during the past couple of months directing Karnataka to release Cauvery water to Tamil Nadu, the memorandum said the SC had directed the Centre to form the CMB within four weeks and produce the notification to the court in this regard.
The memorandum also recalled that the highest law officers of the Centre had been repeatedly assuring the Apex Court that the Cauvery Management Board would be formed. “However, we were shocked to hear that the Centre had filed an Interlocutory Application on October 3 praying that the directions of the SC to set up CMB be recalled. This is a total shock and a complete reversal of the stand that the Centre has been taking thus far. We are at a total loss to understand what caused this sudden reversal,” said the memorandum
The memorandum also said the Centre’s stance in the latest Interlocutory Application filed was at total variance with the stance taken in the SC and it also went against Tamil Nadu and its farming community. “In India’s federal polity, the Government of India is expected to be neutral and fair to all the States of the Union. It is also duty bound to uphold the majesty of law and the decision of the SC and Final Order of the Cauvery Water Disputes Tribunal,” the memorandum added.
The AIADMK MPs also recalled that the Central Ministers belonging to Karnataka had been vociferously supporting the stand of the Karnataka government to not release Cauvery water to Tamil Nadu. “This is against the Constitutional obligation cast on them to be neutral in any dispute between two States, as they are Union Ministers for the whole country. This action of the Union Ministers amounts to a grave injustice to the people of Tamil Nadu,” they pointed out.
Stating that they were not sure whether the Prime Minister was aware of the volte face of the Ministry of Water Resources before the SC, the AIADMK MPs expressed confidence that t the Prime Minister would direct the Centre to act in a fair manner and uphold the rule of law in the country.