K'taka to file appeal in SC against Cauvery authority, committee

Bengaluru: Backed by an all-party meet, the Karnataka government on Saturday decided to go in for an appeal in the Supreme Court against the setting up of the Cauvery Water Management Authority and Cauvery Water Regulation Committee.

The all-party meeting on the Cauvery issue decided that two senior officials nominated by the state government as its representatives to the authority and the committee would participate in the July 2 meeting to present Karnataka's views.

The meeting, called by Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy, also decided to raise the issue in Parliament.

"Our officials nominated by the government of Karnataka will be attending the meeting on July 2 and they will raise our issues and present our views to safeguard the the interest of Karnataka and its farmers," Water Resources Minister D K Shivakumar told reporters after the meeting.

"Our Parliament members have been requested and they have agreed in one voice, cutting across party lines, to raise the issue in Parliament," he said.

He said the government has decided to go in for an appeal in the Supreme Court and they would be guided by legal luminaries Fali S Nariman and Mohan Katarki, the state advocate general.

"They will frame how and in what manner we approach the Supreme Court and in what context," he added.

The all-party meeting was called to plan Karnataka's next move after the Centre's decision to set up the Cauvery Water Management Authority and Cauvery Water Regulation Committee.