Urges Supreme Court to modify order on supply to Tamil Nadu

The Karnataka government on Thursday moved the Supreme Court, seeking a stay/modification of its September 28 order, which directed the State to release 9,000 cusecs of water to Tamil Nadu daily till October 15 as per the orders of the Cauvery River Authority headed by the Prime Minister. In its application, Karnataka pointed out that it had complied with the order by releasing 99,601 cusecs (from September 20 to October 3).

“Any agreement in violation of statute or law is void,” says Bench

The Supreme Court on Thursday asked the Union government to explain whether an agreement with Russia to waive civil liability in case of an accident at the Kudankulam nuclear power plant would have an impact on the exchequer. “Any agreement in violation of the statute or law is void,” said a Bench of Justices K.S. Radhakrishnan and Dipak Misra hearing a batch of petitions filed by anti-nuclear activists for a stay on the commissioning of the plant.

Wants government to firm up a date by which essential drugs will be notified

The Supreme Court on Wednesday told the Union government that in the name of bringing essential drugs under pricing control it should not alter the price system. A Bench of Justices G.S. Singhvi and S.J. Mukhopadhaya told senior counsel Ashok Bhan, appearing for the Centre: “The government should not alter the drug price system. You firm up a date by which essential drugs would be notified.”

Unhappy that it didn’t obey PM’s order on Cauvery water release

The Supreme Court on Friday expressed its displeasure over Karnataka not complying with a direction issued by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, heading the Cauvery River Authority (CRA), to release 9,000 cusecs of Cauvery water daily to Tamil Nadu from September 20 to October 15. A Bench comprising Justice D.K. Jain and Justice Madan B. Lokur told counsel V.N. Raghupathy, appearing for Karnataka: “This is an order passed by the Prime Minister. But you don’t want to comply

“Due to failure of monsoon, drought had been severe affecting agriculture”

Karnataka farmers have moved the Supreme Court challenging the direction given to the State by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, as the head of the Cauvery River Authority (CRA), to release 9,000 cusecs of water to Tamil Nadu from September 20 to October 15. Suresh and three other farmers have, in a writ petition, said that this year due to failure of monsoon to the extent of 40 per cent, drought had been severe affecting half of the agricultural operations in the Cauvery basin of Karnataka.

No case for review is made out both on the grounds of delay as well as on merits

The Supreme Court on Wednesday declined to entertain a petition filed by the Central Ground Water Authority (CGWA) seeking review of the inter-linking of rivers (ILR) judgment on the ground that the directions in it amounted to judicial overreach. It also declined permission to 21 eminent citizens to file a similar petition.

Karnataka not honouring directions of the Cauvery River Authority

With Karanataka refusing to release water as per the directions of the Cauvery River Authority headed by the Prime Minister, Manmohan Singh, the Tamil Nadu government on Tuesday moved the Supreme Court for a direction to Karnataka to release 2 tmcft of water daily for 24 days till the onset of the north-east monsoon.

The Indian Institute of Toxicology Research (IITR) has informed the Supreme Court that groundwater around the Union Carbide factory in Bhopal is contaminated.

In an interim report submitted before the Bench of Justices Altamas Kabir and J. Chelameswar, the IITR said 30 samples were collected from the disaster site. Nitrate level in nine samples exceeded the permissible limit prescribed by the Bureau of Indian Standards for drinking water and lead beyond the limit was found in 24.

Of 17 recommendations of AERB, only six have been complied with, he says

The safety measures recommended by the Atomic Energy Regulatory Board (AERB) are crucial and the Kudankulam nuclear power plant should not be allowed to be commissioned without implementing these measures, argued counsel Prashant Bhushan in the Supreme Court on Thursday. Appearing for petitioner G. Sundararajan, social activist, he submitted before a Bench of Justices K.S. Radhakrishnan and Dipak Misra that the AERB had recommended 17 safety measures, of which only six were complied with and 11 yet to be put in place.

Petition says plant should be governed by principle of ‘absolute liability, polluter pays’

A fresh writ petition has been filed in the Supreme Court, contending that the Kudankulam nuclear power plant could not be commissioned without resolving the issue of Russia’s liability in case of an accident. The public interest litigation petition sought a declaration that the plant, in Tirunelveli district, would be governed by the law of the land, as laid down by the Supreme Court: the ‘absolute liability’ and ‘polluter pays’ principle.