Dam issue: Centre's views on CISF sought

A 5-judge Constitution bench also told the Kerala and Tamil Nadu governments to refrain from whipping up people’s passions on the issue.

The court also asked the two states to remain “sensitive” and observe “sanity” in dealing with the issue. It directed Tamil Nadu to ensure that the water level did not breach the 136 feet level and rejected Kerala's plea for restricting the limit to 120 feet.

The bench comprising justices D K Jain, R M Lodha, Deepak Verma, C K Prasad and A R Dave also asked the Centre  to file its response by Thursday on Tamil Nadu's plea for deployment of the CISF for ensuring safety of the century-old dam.

The court pulled up the Tamil Nadu government for using its oral observations as an advertisement in newspapers for political gains. It also declined to entertain the plea to restrain Kerala leaders from making any statements on the dam row. “How can we stop them with a gag order. Kindly see your prayer. How do we issue such a gag order. If somebody wants to protest he can. How can we resist officials from making some statements” “You are issuing press advertisements. Even our oral observations are being mentioned in the advertisements. It is very unfortunate and very unfair. You must have had some senior counsel's assistance while issuing the advertisements,” the bench said.
During the hearing, the court regretted that both the parties instead of dousing the fire were adding fuel to it.