State of Karnataka by its Chief Secretary v. State of Tamil Nadu represented by the Secretary to Government Public Works Department; A v. Siddaramaiah, Chief Minister, Government of Karnataka & Ors.

Case Details & Bench

Court: High Court
Hon'ble Judges: Dipak Misra
Amitava Roy
A. M. Khanwilkar
Judgment Date: 2018-02-16
Court Decision / Holding: Contempt Petition against the respondents not proceeded with; contempt petition closed in view of the disposal of Civil Appeal No. 2456 of 2007.
Final Disposition: Contempt Petition disposed of; contempt petition closed; no contempt against respondents.

Parties to the Case

Appellants / Petitioners

State of Tamil Nadu represented by the Secretary to Government Public Works Department

Respondents

State of Karnataka by its Chief Secretary
Siddaramaiah, Chief Minister, Government of Karnataka & Ors.

Legal Representation & Advocates

Counsels for Petitioners

• A Kunal Chattarjee
• Saurabh Gupta
• G. Umapathy
• C. Paramasivam
• K. V. Vijayakumar
• B. Balaji
• S. Wasim A. Qadri
• Mrs. Madhavi Diwan
• Ajay Sharma
• Ms. Snidha Mehra
• Hemant Arya
• Ms. Saudamini Sharma
• Ms. Kirti Dua
• Ms. Somya Rathore
• Sumit
• D. S. Mahra
• M. K. Maroria
• R. Nedumaran
• V. G. Pragasam
• S. Prabu Ramasubramanian
• P. K. Manohar
• Ms. Shantha Vasudevan
• Manu Sundaram
• Ramesh Babu

Counsels for Respondents

• Madhusudan R. Naik, Adv. Gen.
• Fali S. Nariman
• S. S. Javali
• Jaideep Gupta
• Shekhar Naphade
• A. S. Nambiar
• Rakesh Dwivedi
• Subramonium Prasad
• Sr. Advs.
• Mohan V. Katarki
• S. C. Sharma
• Brijesh Kalappa
• R. S. Ravi
• V. N. Raghupathy
• J. M. Gangadhar
• Ranvir Singh
• Abdul Azeem Kalebudde
• G. Prakash
• Jishnu M. L.
• Mrs. Priyanka Prakash
• Mrs. Beena Prakash
• Vijay Shankar

Case Synopsis & Summary

This matter concerns the inter-state water disputes over the Cauvery river among Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Kerala and the Union Territory of Puducherry. The dispute, previously adjudicated in Civil Appeal No. 2456 of 2007, was resolved by the Supreme Court in that appeal. The current proceeding is Contempt Petition (Civil) No. 225 of 2013 arising out of disobedience allegations by Tamil Nadu against the Chief Minister of Karnataka and others, alleging non-compliance with the disposal in the earlier appeal. The case before the Supreme Court was heard in its Inter-State Water Disputes jurisdiction under the Inter-State Water Disputes Act, 1956, particularly Section 5(2), and relates to the order of the Cauvery Water Disputes Tribunal dated 05.02.2007. The Court clarifies that since Civil Appeal No. 2456 of 2007 has been disposed of, there is nothing further to adjudicate in contempt; accordingly, the Court does not proceed against the respondents and closes the contempt petition. The judgment is delivered by Chief Justice Dipak Misra with Justices Amitava Roy and A. M. Khanwilkar concurring. The decision underscores the finality of the appellate resolution and terminates the contempt proceedings in light of the earlier disposal.

Provisions of Law Cited

Inter-State Water Disputes Act, 1956Section 5(2) of the Inter-State Water Disputes Act, 1956

Cited Precedents (1)

Case Name	Citation	Treatment	Explanation
State of Tamil Nadu represented by the Secretary to Government Public Works Department v. Siddaramaiah, Chief Minister, Government of Karnataka & Ors.	Civil Appeal No. 2456 of 2007	Positive	The present judgment explicitly relies on and implements the decision in Civil Appeal No. 2456 of 2007, and disposes of the contempt petition in light of that appellate decision.

Extracted Judgment Text

Exact text extracted from official judgment records.

STATE OF KARNATAKA BY ITS CHIEF SECRETARY v. STATE[2018] 5 S.C.R. 1125 1125 OF T. N. BY ITS CHIEF SECRETARY [DIPAK MISRA, CJI] STATE OF TAMIL NADU REPRESENTED BY THE SECRETARY TO GOVERNMENT PUBLIC WORKS DEPARTMENT A v. SIDDARAMAIAH, CHIEF MINISTER, GOVERNMENT OF KARNAKATA & ORS. B (Contempt Petition (Civil) No. 225 of 2013 In Civil Appeal No.2456 of 2007) FEBRUARY 16, 2018 C ## **[DIPAK MISRA CJI, AMITAVA ROY AND A. M. KHANWILKAR, JJ.]** _Inter-State Water Disputes:_ D _Water dispute between States of Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and Kerala and Union Territory of Puducherry – In respect of waters of river Cauvery – Disposed of by Supreme Court in Civil Appeal No. 2456 of 2007 – Contempt Petition by State of Tamil Nadu against the Chief Minister of Karnataka and others – Held: Contempt petition closed in view of judgment passed in Civil Appeal No. 2456_ E _of 2007._ CIVIL ORIGINAL JURISDICTION : Contempt Petition (Civil) No. 225 OF 2013 IN F Civil Appeal No. 2456 of 2007 From the Judgment and Order dated 05.02.2007 of the Cauvery Water Disputes Tribunal at New Delhi under Section 5(2) of the InterState Water Disputes Act, 1956. Ranjit Kumar, S.G., Madhusudan R. Naik, Adv. Gen., Fali S. Nariman, S.S. Javali, Jaideep Gupta, Shekhar Naphade, A. S. Nambiar, Rakesh Dwivedi, Subramonium Prasad, Sr. Advs., Mohan V. Katarki, S. C. Sharma, Brijesh Kalappa, R.S. Ravi, V. N. Raghupathy, J. M. Gangadhar, Ranvir Singh, Abdul Azeem Kalebudde, G. Prakash, Jishnu M. L., Mrs. Priyanka Prakash, Mrs. Beena Prakash, Vijay Shankar, G H 1125 1126 SUPREME COURT REPORTS [2018] 5 S.C.R. - A Kunal Chattarjee, Saurabh Gupta, G. Umapathy, C. Paramasivam, K.V. Vijayakumar, B. Balaji, S. Wasim A. Qadri, Mrs. Madhavi Diwan, Ajay Sharma, Ms. Snidha Mehra, Hemant Arya, Ms. Saudamini Sharma, Ms. Kirti Dua, Ms. Somya Rathore, Sumit, D. S. Mahra, M. K. Maroria, R. Nedumaran, V.G. Pragasam, S. Prabu Ramasubramanian, P. K. Manohar, Ms. Shantha Vasudevan, Manu Sundaram, Ramesh Babu - B M. R., Rajesh Mahale, B. Balaji, A. S. Bhasme, Ms. Aparna Bhat, Ms. Supreeta Sharanagouda,, Advs. for the appearing parties. The Judgment of the Court was delivered by - **DIPAK MISRA, CJI** As we have disposed of Civil Appeal - C No. 2456 of 2007, we do not intend to proceed with the Contempt Petition against the respondents. It stands closed accordingly. Kalpana K. Tripathy Contempt petition closed. D E F G H