Cauvery Row: If you disobey court, I can't argue for Karnataka, Nariman tells Siddaramaiah

There was drama in the Supreme Court with Fali S Nariman, senior counsel appearing for Karnataka refusing to argue the Cauvery case and make any submission on behalf of the state in the Supreme court.

During the course of the arguments, Nariman made public a letter by Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah in which he had said the state was not in a position to release water to Tamil Nadu as directed by the court. Nariman had replied to the Chief Minister saying he would not argue for the state until the SC orders were followed.

While it was initially believed that Nariman had withdrawn as Karnataka's counsel in the Cauvery case completely, members of the state legal team told OneIndia he had refused to argue before the court only for today. He will continue to represent Karnataka.

When proceedings began, Nariman brought to the notice of the court Siddaramaiah's September 29 letter to him. In the letter, the CM had said that the state is in no position to release water. The CM also mentioned the resolution passed by the Karnataka assembly and said that all parties had agreed that water could not be released. Siddaramaiah requested Nariman to make these submissions to the court.

Nariman wrote back to the CM in a letter dated September 30 that he would not be able to make any submission today. "I will certainly read out your letter to the court. But you must realise that all of us appearing for the state are officers of the court and since the court has issued a direction for release of water, despite the resolution passed, we must honour the order of the court. I must therefore inform you that apart from reading your letter and my reply, we will not be able to make any submission on behalf of the state to the court," Nariman wrote.

OneIndia News