The Supreme Court deferred the hearing on Tamil Nadu's plea against Karnataka over the Cauvery water dispute to August 17.
Chief Justice of India Surya Kant announced the postponement after Justice Vikram Nath, who heads the bench, contracted viral fever.
Tamil Nadu's plea seeks the enforcement of the CWMA's July 30 direction ordering Karnataka to release 4.536 TMC of water.
Supreme Court Postpones Cauvery Water Hearing To August 17
Tamil Nadu moved the top court on August 3, challenging Karnataka's failure to release water from the Kabini and Krishna Raja Sagara reservoirs as ordered by the CWMA on July 30
Summary
The Supreme Court has deferred a key hearing on the Cauvery issue. The court on Wednesday rescheduled Tamil Nadu's plea to force Karnataka to comply with water release orders to August 17, ANI reported. The case, originally listed for August 13, was delayed because Justice Vikram Nath fell ill with viral fever. Chief Justice of India Surya Kant said a bench led by Nath will hear the dispute when he returns next week.
Tamil Nadu moved the top court on August 3, challenging Karnataka's failure to release water from the Kabini and Krishna Raja Sagara reservoirs as ordered by the CWMA on July 30. The state demanded its rightful share of 4.536 TMC of water, or 3,500 cusecs daily for 15 days, by August 12. The court had scheduled the hearing for August 13 before the delay.
DMK Files Impleadment Application
The DMK wants to join the legal battle as senior advocate P Wilson, representing the party and local farmers, requested the court to hear their impleadment application alongside the main plea. Karnataka ignored a new water release directive from the CWMA, Wilson said.
The party demanded immediate action. Filed through Farmers Wing Secretary AKS Vijayan, the DMK petition seeks to enforce a July 28, 2026 order by the CWRC. The CWMA later upheld this directive on July 30, 2026, requiring Karnataka to release 3,500 cusecs of water daily at Biligundlu for 15 days starting July 29.
The plea also asks the CWMA to track daily reservoir releases from Karnataka while also wanting the authority to measure actual flows at Biligundlu and submit regular compliance reports to the Supreme Court.
The DMK argued that the neighboring state refused to follow mandatory directives despite approval from regulators under the Cauvery Water Management Scheme, 2018. The DMK also requested a directive forcing Karnataka to release the water immediately, citing a February 16, 2018 Supreme Court judgment
The legal battle marks the latest chapter in a decades-long conflict between the two states over sharing Cauvery river water.
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(With Inputs From ANI)
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