Immediate gazette notification of final award impossible:MK

Chennai, Mar 15 (UNI) Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M Karunanidhi today reiterated that immediate Gazette notification of the final award of the Cauvery Water Disputes Tribunal was not possible and appealed to leaders of political parties not to divert the issue for personal political gains.

Reacting to leader of the opposition J Jayalalithaa's proposed hunger strike here on March 18, demanding immediate gazette notification of the award, Mr Karunanidhi, in a statement here said consultations with eminent lawyers revealed that it would not be possible for the Centre to issue a gazette notification before the expiry of three months time given to the concerned states to file their review petitions.

As some people were not satisfied with his earlier clarifications, the state government sought the views of eminent lawyers K Parasaran and P P Rao, who had appeared for the case before the Tribunal and they were unanimous that the Centre could not be compelled to issue the notification immediately at this stage.

Mr Parasaran had said, ''it will not be appropriate for any state government at this stage to request the Centre to issue a notification under section 6 of the Water Disputes Act, before the time for a reference under section 5(3) expires,'' he said.

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