Bengaluru: Karnataka senior counsel Fali S Nariman, who has been handling the Cauvery water dispute before the judiciary for 32 years, on Friday announced he was withdrawing from the case on behalf of the state as "he had no standing to present arguments after the state had defied the previous orders of the Supreme Court". The first letter, presented to the Supreme Court during the hearing, spoke of chief minister Siddaramaiah urging Nariman to bring to the notice of the judiciary the deliberations and impasse between Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and the Centre, at the meeting held in New Delhi on Thursday. It also asked Nariman to impress upon the court the conclusion of the all-party meeting in Karnataka, where three Union ministers, MPs from the state and state ministers "exhorted" him not to release water till the meeting with Tamil Nadu yielded any results.
The letter said, "Representing the State of Karna taka 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 court.'' The decision of Nariman dealt a huge blow to Karna taka, as the court took his response as one which saw even the legal team of the state in opposition of the state government decision. The court commended Nariman in their judgment, while at the same time warning Karnataka for its defiance. "We must appreciate the stand taken by Nariman. We must unhesitatingly state that this behoves the officer of the court in the highest tradition of the Bar," observed the two-judge bench.
Later, in the course of their judgment, it said Karnataka was being given the final warning, failing which the "wrath" of the law may befall the government.
Former advocate-general BV Acharya said Nariman's stand should have been preempted by the government and the state should have made alternative arrangements. "When Nariman said he will not argue and will only present the chief minister's letter to the court, the state gover nment should have made alternative arrangements. They should have engaged other lawyers or requested the court to give some time, citing Nariman's inability to continue," he said
Former A-G, Ashok Haranahalli said Friday's developments were representative of the situation wherein even the state legal team was not convinced of Karnataka's strong stand to defy the SC.
Later, in a statement, Karnataka's senior counsel Mohan V Katarki clarified that Nariman and the legal team will continue to appear in the SC and defend the state. In the letter written by Nariman to Siddaramaiah, produced by him in court, the former clarified that Karnataka must obey the order and he and the legal team cannot defend the act of disobedience based on a political decision.
The letter said, "Representing the State of Karna taka 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 court.'' The decision of Nariman dealt a huge blow to Karna taka, as the court took his response as one which saw even the legal team of the state in opposition of the state government decision. The court commended Nariman in their judgment, while at the same time warning Karnataka for its defiance. "We must appreciate the stand taken by Nariman. We must unhesitatingly state that this behoves the officer of the court in the highest tradition of the Bar," observed the two-judge bench.
Later, in the course of their judgment, it said Karnataka was being given the final warning, failing which the "wrath" of the law may befall the government.
Former advocate-general BV Acharya said Nariman's stand should have been preempted by the government and the state should have made alternative arrangements. "When Nariman said he will not argue and will only present the chief minister's letter to the court, the state gover nment should have made alternative arrangements. They should have engaged other lawyers or requested the court to give some time, citing Nariman's inability to continue," he said
Former A-G, Ashok Haranahalli said Friday's developments were representative of the situation wherein even the state legal team was not convinced of Karnataka's strong stand to defy the SC.
Later, in a statement, Karnataka's senior counsel Mohan V Katarki clarified that Nariman and the legal team will continue to appear in the SC and defend the state. In the letter written by Nariman to Siddaramaiah, produced by him in court, the former clarified that Karnataka must obey the order and he and the legal team cannot defend the act of disobedience based on a political decision.