Monitor panel best solution to Cauvery row

During 1995 a secretary of the Karnataka Government (J Vasudevan) was sent to jail for one month for not implementing the orders of the Supreme Court. The SC in October 2002, following a complaint filed by Tamil Nadu, examined the question as to whether the then Chief Minister of Karnataka SM Krishna and other functionaries of the state had wilfully disobeyed its orders for the release of Cauvery water to TN or not and if so, the nature of punishment to be given. The Karnataka government cited the farmers’ agitation for not implementing the orders. 

The court observed that if an elected government says that because of law and order situation it could not comply with our orders then let the government go. Year after year, season after season the farmers of delta districts cannot wait for the ‘generosity’ of the Karnataka to get Cauvery water as per the award of the tribunal award. It is high time the monitoring committee is constituted with full powers to decide the matter. If necessary, central forces should be kept at the disposal of the monitoring committee for implementing the award. Even after the decision of the Supreme Court, if the Karnakata government is not taking any effective steps then it is the duty of the union government to protect the State from the internal disturbance and also to ensure that the government is carried on in accordance with the provisions of the Constitution as mandated by Article 355 of the Constitution. For this purpose, there are enough grounds available for the central government to proclaim emergency in terms of Article 356 and impose President’s Rule.