Veteran Congress leader and former union minister S.M. Krishna on Tuesday expressed shock over the Supreme Court order on the Cauvery water dispute and dubbed it as “pervert”.
"This pervert judgment warrants an appeal before a fuller bench, perhaps the Constitution bench of the Supreme Court. If the SC, which is supposed to uphold the constitution, begins to wreck the constitution, where is the sense?” asked the veteran leader.
“I am shocked at the Supreme Court judgment and feel it is pervert. Never ever there was an order like this post-Independence. The judge does not seem to have clarity on the issue,” charged Krishna, adding that the judge seems to have little knowledge that Krishna Raja Sagara dam is 100-years-old and that our ancestors have made huge sacrifices, and the fact that royal family of Mysore helped raise the necessary resources to build the dam.
“He (judge) does not have complete information on this. The Wodeyars pledged their precious ornaments to raise funds and they gave the fund to Sir M. Visvesvaraya to complete the dam,” said Krishna.
KR Sagara is the property of the state, asserted the former chief minister. “If one has to acquire even an inch of my house, there are certain rules to be followed like issuing a notice, granting compensation and providing alternative land. If an individual has a right to possess and dispose of property, it is true of a state too. They are asking us to handover the dam to a board,” said Krishna. He added that the people of the state were fully backing the government.
“I have gone through this fire (in 2002) and know what it is to be sitting on the CM’s seat through all this. GoK need not be deterred about the judgment. People are fully behind the government. It will have to take a decision which will safeguard the basic interests of the state. GoK should work towards evolving a consensus of the riparian states,” said Krishna.
Meanwhile, Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, stumped at the Supreme Court verdict directing a hike in release of water to Tamil Nadu, went into a huddle with his senior colleagues. “We will call for an all-party meeting tomorrow and also a hold a cabinet meeting to discuss the options,” said Siddaramaiah, even as the home department is busy sprucing up the security across the state.
