Mullaperiyar: SC wants Kerala, TN to be like normal litigant

One-liner: The Supreme Court on Wednesday said the govts of Kerala and Tamil Nadu might have political compulsion outside but both states should behave like any normal litigant before the court in the matter related to the 126-year-old Mullaperiyar dam.

Court not concerned: The apex court observed that these states are making statements and political observations against each other but the court is not concerned with that.

• A bench said that before making any grievances in the court, the parties must first approach the supervisory committee before taking any step for the release of water from the dam, built on the Periyar river in Idukki district of Kerala
• The top court was hearing an application filed by Kerala govt, which was seeking a direction to Tamil Nadu not to release a huge quantity of water in the wee hours from the dam saying it causes a huge impact on the people living downstream of the dam

Who is the best judge: The bench observed that the supervisory committee is the best judge to take a call on this aspect and it would take into account the request for release of water and also on whether there is a need for that.

• The bench observed that the matter related to the day-to-day management of the dam should not come before the top court and the parties should resolve the issues before the committee
• The apex court said that the pleas raising issues related to the dam would come up for hearing on Jan 11

What TN govt says:  The Tamil Nadu govt had told the apex court that repeated assertion by Kerala to seek decommissioning of the dam is wholly impermissible as the dam is hydrologically, structurally, and seismically safe. 

Source: PTI