SC to refer Mullaperiyar row to Constitution bench

The supreme court today decided to refer to a Constitution bench the Mullaperiyar dam dispute between Tamil Nadu and Kerala.

A three judge bench of justices DK Jain, Mukundakam Sharma and RM Lodha felt that it would be appropriate if the matter is heard by a five judge bench as it involved "substantive questions of Constitutional law".

The apex court's decision came after senior counsel K Parasaran for Tamil Nadu and Rajeev Dhawan for Kerala agreed that the issue involved delicate interpretation of Constitutional law.

The century-old Mullaperiyar dam, located in Kerala's Iddukki district, has been a bone of contention between the two neighbouring southern states as Kerala wanted it to be demolished while Tamil Nadu is fiercely opposed to any such move.

Earlier, in 2007 the apex court had passed a judgement in favour of Tamil Nadu by allowing it to raise the water level from 136 feet to 142 feet.

However, Kerala subsequently brought a legislation to overcome the supreme court judgement and restrained Tamil Nadu from raising the water level beyond 136 feet.

It further obtained a environmental clearance from ministry of environment for constructing a new dam by demolishing the existing one.

Aggrieved Tamil Nadu moved a fresh writ petition challenging the legislation enacted by Kerala and its subsequent decision to construct a new dam.