#Cauvery: Karnataka fails to impress Fali Nariman, Misra J writes about “wrath of law”

Senior Advocate Fali Nariman has had a long standing association with the State of Karnataka as its go-to counsel. This, however, did not stop him from making it clear that his allegiance lies with the Supreme Court of India..Nariman, who has been representing the Karnataka government in the Cauvery water dispute, submitted two letters to the court today – one written by Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah to Nariman and the other by Nariman to Siddaramaiah..The letter written by the Karnataka Chief Minister states that in an all-party meeting held on September 28, he was exhorted, as the head of the government, to reflect the will of the people. The letter states that Karnataka government is not in a position to release water, as directed by the Supreme Court..In his reply to this letter, Nariman has stated that he will not make any submissions before the court other than reading out the Chief Minister’s letter. The letter states,.“Representing the State of Karnataka I will certainly read out (if permitted) your letter to the Hon’ble Court. But you must realize that all of us appearing for the State are officers of the Court and since the Court has issued a direction for release of water “despite the Resolution passed”, we must honour the order of the Court, I must therefore inform you that apart from reading your letter and my reply we will not be able to make any submission on behalf of the State to the Hon’ble Court.”.Nariman’s move came in for praise by the Supreme Court, which in its order said that his conduct “behoves the officer of the Court in the highest tradition of the Bar”..The Court also came down upon Karnataka for “flouting its orders”. Quoting Article 144 of the Constitution, which enjoins Civil and judicial authorities to act in aid of the Supreme Court, the Court said that Karnataka is flouting its order and creating a situation where the “majesty of law is dented”..Interestingly, Senior Advocate Shekhar Naphade, appearing for Tamil Nadu, told the court that he will not be making any further submissions in the case. He explained this stance saying that,. “We have been treated so shabbily and that there is nothing that Tamil Nadu wants to place before Your Lordships”..Attorney General Mukul Rohatgi, appearing for the Central government, told the Court that the Cauvery Management Board can be constituted before October 4 and further decisions can be taken after the Board submits its report..The Court, therefore, proceeded to direct Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Pondicherry to nominate their members to the Cauvery Management Board before 4 pm tomorrow. The Centre will then have to constitute the Board before October 4..The Court also issued a strong warning to Karnataka stating that being part of the federal structure, the State is obligated to follow the directions of the Supreme Court..“We are granting this opportunity as the last chance and we repeat at the cost of repetition that we are passing this order despite the resolution passed by the Joint Houses of State Legislature of the State of Karnataka. We are sure that the State of Karnataka being a part of the federal structure of this country will rise to the occasion and not show any kind of deviancy and follow the direction till the report on the ground reality is made available to this Court..The order culminates with some words of warning by Dipak Misra J,.“The State of Karnataka should not be bent upon maintaining an obstinate stand of defiance, for one knows not when the wrath of law shall fall on one”.The matter will now be heard on October 6 at 2 pm..Read the order of the court below.