Go, Nariman! Karnataka cries foul after Cauvery debacle
- There are cries from certain quarters saying that Fali S Nariman, who argued the Cauvery case at the Supreme Court, has let the state down.
- Many feel that by and large it was due to the failure of Nariman that Tamil Nadu got the water release order from SC.
FollowIn Karnataka, the chips are down for Fali S Nariman. There are cries from certain quarters saying that he has let the state down.
Today, the Mandya Vakilara Sangha demanded sacking of Nariman with immediate effect, pitching for a change in lawyer to argue before the Cauvery Tribunal and also in Supreme Court in future with regard to the Cauvery issue.
The association said Nariman and his team of lawyers have let down Karnataka. The association feels that by and large it was due to the failure of Nariman that Tamil Nadu got the water release order from SC.
How much did Fali S Nariman charge?
Fee: ₹2,60,30,000. He charges ₹1 lakh per hour and ₹4 lakh per appearance
Karnataka has spent about ₹150 crore so far on his team of lawyers to represent Karnataka.
“The same Nariman counselled for Tamil Nadu to bail out Jayalalithaa in the disproportionate assets case. How can you expect that same person to get justice for Karnataka, be it in Mahadayi case or the Cauvery case?” said Vatal Nagaraj, president of Kannada Vatal Paksha.
To drive his point home, he added that while the lawyers who represented Karnataka charge crores in fees, their Tamil Nadu counterparts did not charge a penny for the case.
Vaman Acharaya, BJP Leader echoed Nagaraj’s sentiments and said, “The state government list itself says that they have paid crores of rupees to Nariman to argue the case, but he has failed the state.”
Who charged how much:
Former advocate general, Ravi Varma Kumar: ₹30,75,000
Brijesh Kalappa, present legal adviser to Government of Karnataka: ₹67,99,834.
Senior advocate SS Jawali: ₹1,14,52,900
Senior advocate Mohan Katarki: ₹2,41,58,828
Advocate Anitha: ₹1,04 37,085.
Former advocate general BV Acharaya said that at the time when the state was staring at a deep drinking water supply crisis due to water storage levels in dams, he (Nariman) has agreed before the court to release 10,000 cusecs of water to Tamil Nadu.
Deve Gowda bats for Nariman.
HD Deve Gowda, former prime minister, however, says that Nariman who has been arguing the case from many years is aware of the situation and changing him is not an appropriate idea.
“In Tamil Nadu, there are better lawyers but in Karnataka there is a dearth of good lawyers. Resorting to violence and damaging public property is not the solution,” said Gowda.
Chief Minister Siddaramaiah has also defended him saying that he has done his best. Interestingly, Siddaramaiah had earlier criticized Nariman saying he is too old to argue the case.
