Cauvery water dispute: SC pulls up PMO officials

The Supreme Court on Monday pulled up the Prime Minister's Office officials for not holding a meeting of Cauvery River Authority, headed by the Prime Minister, to resolve the water-sharing dispute between Tamil Nadu and Karnataka.

A bench of justices D K Jain and Madan B Lokur expressed surprise that the meeting of CRA, comprising chief ministers of Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Pondicherry, Kerala, has not  taken place as the PMO is trying to fix a date convenient to all members.

"It is surprising and shocking that you require consent of the states for even fixing the date for the meeting. For fixing a date, it requires the convenience of the PM or the convenience of states?" the bench asked.

The court had earlier asked the government to convene a meeting of the committee to resolve the dispute.

The bench further said the affidavit filed by Karnataka had used 'serious words' and wondered whether the PMO is even aware about it. "It is shocking. It seems officers in PMO have not seen the affidavit filed by Karnataka. Karnataka's affidavit used serious words. We expressed our anguish on that on the last hearing itself. Only our blood pressure is raised. Please call senior officers. PMO may not be aware of this. We are short of words because it involves the highest functionary," it said.

The court adjourned the case for September 7 and asked the Centre to inform it about the meeting of CRA.