REFUGEE

CHENNAI: Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M. Karunanidhi, on Friday, expressed regret over the Supreme Court’s decision to refer the Mullaperiyar dam issue to a five-member Constitution Bench.

“It was in December 1998 that we approached, for the first time, the Supreme Court on the Mullaperiyar issue. After 11 years, when Tamil Nadu was expecting to secure justice, the decision that there will be one more enquiry to be heard by five judges, and wondering how long it will take, one cannot help feeling sad. We do not know to whom we should represent to see to it that the adage ‘justice delayed, justice denied’ does not come true,” Mr. Karunanidhi said in a statement.

On Tuesday, the court referred to the Bench a suit filed by the Tamil Nadu government questioning a law enacted by Kerala to prevent raising the water level in the dam beyond 136 ft. as against 142 ft. allowed by the Supreme Court judgment of February 2006.

Raising a host of doubts in the light of the court’s action, he asked: “Can a legal amendment be made to nullify an order of the Supreme Court on an inter-State issue? Is that acceptable? What will happen to the country if one State after the other, through legislature, goes on enacting laws in the event of the court orders not being favourable to such States?”

Mr. Karunanidhi also wondered about the fate of the court judgment in February 2006.