POURING OUT WOES: President of Cauvery Raitha Hitarakshana Samiti G. Made Gowda talking to Home Minister M.P. Prakash (right) and Transport Minister N. Cheluvarayaswamy (second from right) before an all-party meet to discuss the Cauvery Water Dispute s Tribunal award, in Bangalore on Wednesday. — Photo: V. Sreenivasa Murthy

BANGALORE: Chief Minister H.D. Kumaraswamy on Wednesday denied the remarks purported to have been made by State counsel Fali S. Nariman and his associates that the final award of the Cauvery Water Disputes Tribunal was indeed good for the State.

Mr. Nariman had appeared for the State before the tribunal, and the Opposition in the Legislative Assembly on Wednesday said that he [Mr. Nariman] had been quoted as welcoming the final award as being good for the State.

Mr. Kumaraswamy, in his reply to a lengthy debate on State counsel expressing such views, said the State Government would take a decision on the next course of action only after studying the views of the leaders of all political parties.

The Chief Minister said his Government had a responsibility and concern for the interests of the people, including farmers, and it would not make a mistake by accepting the award in a hurry.

Clarifying fears expressed by some that the Government was not denying what Mr. Nariman, his associate, Mohan Kataraki, and Advocate-General Uday Holla had said, Mr. Kumaraswamy asserted it was not true.

Replying to an angry debate on the remarks, which were termed unwarranted by Leader of the Opposition N. Dharam Singh, the former Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, the former Minister R.V. Deshpande and Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee president M. Mallikarjun Kharge, the Chief Minister said the Government would not be able to make any statement unless it received the full text of the award and studied it.

Criticised

Earlier, during the debate on the matter, the Opposition criticised the coalition Government for making known its stand on the final award of the Cauvery Water Disputes Tribunal through its counsel, who was reported to have stated that the award was "fair and good" to the State.

Mr. Dharam Singh said Mr. Nariman, Mr. Kataraki and Mr. Holla had stated that the tribunal had given a fair verdict to the State. The Government had not the denied statements made by its counsel.

"It is a clear indication that the Government is satisfied with the award," he said and questioned the relevance of calling an all-party meeting to decide the future course of action.

Amid noisy scenes, Water Resources Minister K.S. Eshwarappa, who replied to the debate, "disowned" the statements expressed by its counsel on the tribunal's final award and declared that the verdict was unacceptable to it. (The State counsel and the Advocate-General subsequently appeared at the venue of the all-party meeting and said they had never made such a statement to the media.) The Congress, which was pressing for a reply from the Chief Minister on the issue, staged a walkout in the House.

Mr. Kumaraswamy was not present at that time.

Earlier, Mr. Kharge said the Government had set a bad precedent by allowing counsel and the Advocate-General to issue statements on the award.

The State counsel's view "is shocking to us," Mr. Kharge said and urged the Government to clarify its stance on the award.

Others who spoke included J.C. Madhuswamy (Janata Dal-United), K. Jayaprakash Hegde (independent), R.V. Deshpande (Congress), P.G.R. Sindhia (Janata Dal-Secular), G.V. Srirama Reddy (CPI-M), Vaijnath Patil, H.C. Madevappa (JD-S), G. Srinivas Gowda, D.K. Shivakumar (Congress) and S. Rajendran (RPI).

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