NEW DELHI: Chief Justice of India (CJI) Sharad Arvind Bobde, who was heading a bench of the Supreme Court hearing the Mullaperiyar dam case, on Wednesday recused himself from hearing the matter citing personal reasons.
CJI Bobde, after recusing himself from hearing the matter, transferred it to another bench, consisting of Justice Rohinton Fali Nariman, to hear the case from now onwards.
The apex court is hearing the Mullaperiyar dam issue, which pertains to the water sharing dispute and several other issues between two southern states -- Kerala and Tamil Nadu.
Mullaperiyar dam is located in Kerala's Idukki district near Thekkady on Periyar River but is maintained and managed by the Tamil Nadu government.
During an earlier hearing, the Tamil Nadu government had submitted before the top court that the Kerala floods in the years 2018 and 2019 were not caused by the water that flowed from Mullaperiyar dam.
The Tamil Nadu government's submission had come on an affidavit filed by the Kerala government blaming Tamil Nadu for ignoring its request to control water flow from Mullaperiyar dam during the floods.
Earlier, Kerala had also alleged that the sudden release of the water from the dam is one of the reasons for flooding in Kerala.