The Centre on Monday came in the line of fire of the Supreme Court for failing to notify the 2007 Cauvery Water Dispute Tribunal (CWDT) award despite an assurance given to the court.

Censuring the government for "flouting" the statute by failing to publish the award for more than five years, a Bench, led by Justice R M Lodha, refused to grant it more time and set a deadline of February 20 for notifying the award and publishing it in the gazette.