Reacting to the violence which gripped Karnataka, the SC also said those who feel aggrieved can take legal recourse.
Reacting to the violence which gripped Karnataka, the SC also said those who feel aggrieved can take legal recourse.
New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Thursday asked the governments of Karnataka and Tamil Nadu to ensure that there is no violence or destruction of property by angry mobs in the state.
“There should be no violence when there is a court order. The aggrieved parties can take legal recourse,” the apex court observed, said PTI.
When there is a court order, it has to be complied with, said the SC, adding that people cannot take the law into their own hands.
The Cauvery water sharing row between both states had turned violent in Karnataka on September 12, claiming two lives, both in Bengaluru. While one person was killed in police firing, another succumbed to injuries he suffered while fleeing a police lathicharge as he jumped in panic from a three-storey building.
Widespread violence had erupted that day in Bengaluru and some other parts of Karnataka, while sporadic trouble was witnessed in Tamil Nadu following Supreme Court's modified order on sharing Cauvery water by the two riparian states.
Mob violence began after apex court modified its September 5 order and asked Karnataka to release a reduced quantum of 12,000 cusecs of Cauvery water to Tamil Nadu till September 20.
Section 144 was imposed in Bengaluru even as a mob torched vehicles and threw stones at shops and establishments, which remained shut. In one incident, 56 buses were set on fire in a depot in Bengaluru.
Thousands of paramilitary personnel and police had been rushed into the state to control the situation. Karnataka CM Siddaramaiah, while calling the Supreme Court verdict ‘ver difficult to follow’ had assured that it would be followed, and appealed for peace.
The protests subsided by Tuesday and curfew was lifted, but on Wednesday, several Tamil Nadu Opposition parties gave a fillip to the issue by announcing their support of a state-wide bandh on September 16.
(This article first appeared in Deccan Chronicle)
