CHENNAI: In a bid to brush aside the criticism against the DMK and its chief over the withdrawal of a case filed by the Tamil Nadu government in 1971 regarding the Cauvery row, DMK president M Karunanidhi on Wednesday sought to justify the act saying it was done as per the decision of an all party meeting.
“The Tamil Nadu government filed a suit in Supreme Court praying for a direction to the Centre to form the Cauvery Water Disputes Tribunal in August 1971. On behalf of the farmers of Thanjavur, Murasoli Maran too filed a case,” he recalled in an epistle to his party men.
However, Indira Gandhi, the then Prime Minister, visited Tamil Nadu on May 21, 1972; she offered to facilitate an amicable solution with a precondition that the case must be withdrawn, he pointed out.
He explained further, “Then too I did not take any decision unilaterally.
He held an all-party meeting, consulted the leaders and decided to temporarily withdraw the case but with a provision to file the suit again. This is the reason for withdrawing the Supreme Court case.”
To divert the issue, the AIADMK earlier and the BJP now, kept on the refrain that the DMK and myself had committed betrayal. Those who ridicule that the DMK did not have any right to talk on the Cauvery issue must touch their conscience and realise this, Karunanidhi stressed in the letter to his party men. It may be noted that this is the first statement coming from the DMK chief, who has been indisposed, in more than a week’s time.
CWDT order final
The Centre stated that the CWDT order was final and could not be appealed against in the apex court. It said that if the court agreed to hear the appeals filed by States, then it would lead to intra-court appeal