The Supreme Court on Monday directed that the Mullaperiyar dam case be listed for final arguments on February 19, 2013.

A five-judge Constitution Bench, comprising Justices D.K. Jain, R.M. Lodha, H.L. Dattu, C.K. Prasad and Anil R. Dave, fixed the date of final hearing after brief submissions from senior counsel Harish Salve for Kerala and senior counsel Vinod Bobde for Tamil Nadu. The Bench is hearing a suit filed by Tamil Nadu questioning the law enacted by Kerala in 2006 to restrict the water level in the Mullaperiyar dam at 136 ft. though the Supreme Court had permitted Tamil Nadu to raise the water level up to 142 ft. Since Justice Jain is due to retire in January next, a new Bench will hear the matter.