The Cauvery Water Disputes Tribunal on Tuesday suggested the party states to complete their proceedings before the Supreme Court where they have filed special leave petitions challenging the panel award of February 5.
While taking up the issue for the first time after announcing its final order,  chairman of the Tribunal Justice N  P Singh observed that the two set of proceedings, both at the Tribunal as well as in the SC, cannot go on simultaneously. “You cannot be asking for correction of the final order both in SC by way of appeal as well as in this Tribunal by way of clarification,” he observed. He pointed out that the petitions filed by the party states — Karnataka, TN, Kerala and Pondicherry — under Section 5[3] of the Inter-State Water Disputes Act, would be listed after the disposal of civil appeals pending in the Supreme Court.
The Tribunal also permitted TN to withdraw the civil miscellaneous petition for orders against Karnataka to restrain it from taking up lift irrigation scheme.
Following the award, which directed Karnataka to release 192 tmc ft of water to TN annually, all the four parties filed reference petitions before the Tribunal. While Karnataka reference related only to its demand that Mekedatu project be constructed at the Karnataka-TN border, Tamil Nadu, besides seeking clarification, also sought a ban on all ongoing irrigation projects on the Cauvery basin in Karnataka.