Bangalore : The former Prime Minister H.D. Deve Gowda met Chief Minister Jagadish Shettar on Tuesday and discussed ways to dissuade the Centre from notifying the final award of the Cauvery Water Disputes Tribunal (CWDT).

Mr. Gowda is said to have suggested to take legal course against the notification. Water Resources Minister Basavaraj Bommai and Minister for Urban Development S. Suresh Kumar were present on the occasion.

Mr. Gowda also expressed his anguish over Prime Minister Manmohan Singh not giving an appointment to meet him to explain the impact of the notification on the State.

Mr. Shettar is learnt to have assured Mr. Gowda of making all efforts to stop the Centre from notifying the final award.

Additional appeal

Earlier in the day, Mr. Gowda also spoke to Ministers representing the State in the Union Cabinet, including M. Veerappa Moily, K. Rahman Khan, M. Mallikarjun Kharge and K.H. Muniyappa and appealed to them to impress upon the Prime Minister against notifying the final award of the CWDT.

The Supreme Court on January 4 pulled up the Centre for not notifying the final decision of the Cauvery Water Disputes Tribunal (CWDT) dated February 5, 2007, even though it informed the court on December 5, 2012, that it would do so by December-end.

The Bench had granted time till January 31 to the Centre to take a decision on whether to notify the final decision of the Cauvery Tribunal, without prejudice to the rights and contentions of the States concerned. The Bench directed the matter to be listed for further hearing to February 4.

Mr. Gowda said the Prime Minister had to take a stand on the notification on the lines of the Krishna Water Disputes Tribunal (KWDT).

The Centre had waited till Supreme Court disposed of the SLP filed by the State government in the case of notifying the verdict of the KWDT. Similarly, the final award of the Beas and Rabi Water Disputes Tribunal (BRWDT) had not been notified as an SLP and was pending in the Supreme Court. “The Centre should follow the precedent and wait till Supreme Court clears the case,” he said.

Though a provision was created to review KWDT awards once in 30 years, such a provision was absent in the CWDT, he noted. -The Hindu