Bengaluru: JD(S) leader H D Deve Gowda on Tuesday said he didn’t see the need to replace the state’s counsel and senior advocate Fali S Nariman at this juncture.

Terming the Supreme Court’s verdict on the release of Cauvery water to Tamil Nadu as “tragic”, Gowda told reporters in Bengaluru that the demand for replacing Nariman was unwarranted. He said the senior counsel was well versed with the history of the Cauvery River water dispute, and it would be difficult to replace Nariman with somebody equally competent.

Taking exception to the Court’s directive, he said, “Tamil Nadu’s farmers have just begun sowing activities, and the Court has given this verdict when Karnataka is grappling with acute drinking water shortage. Can they be termed as judges? If this is the case, then one will lose hope in the judiciary,” he said. He said that every time the Cauvery issue came up, the political parties in Tamil Nadu put up a united front, but such was not the case in Karnataka.

He said Karnataka stood a chance if it files a special writ petition before a bench comprising the five Supreme Court judges. Seeking Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s intervention, he also called on farmers and pro-Kannada organisations to stage peaceful protests.