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Kerala Cabinet’s emergency meet over HC affidavit today
An emergency meeting of the Kerala Cabinet will be held on Monday to find a way out of the crisis Advocate General KP Dandapani had created with his controversial affidavit in the High Court that went against the interests and stand of the Government in the dispute with Tamil Nadu over the 116-year-old Mullaperiyar dam.
Dandapani could most probably be removed from the position, sources said. He has been asked to provide an explanation to the Cabinet at its emergency meeting, most likely to be held at 10.00 pm Monday. Industries Minister PK Kunhalikutty said in Kannur on Sunday that the Cabinet meeting would take a decision on whether the AG would continue in the post.
The Advocate General had told the High Court on Friday that there would be no huge disaster even if the already weakened Mullaperiyar dam broke as the giant Idukki reservoir downstream could contain the waters of the Mullaperiyar reservoir. This was in total contrast with the stand of the Government, political parties and the people of Kerala on the vexed issue.
The State Government had been arguing that the Idukki reservoir would not contain the Mullaperiyar waters if the old dam broke and this could lead to the loss of over 35 lakh people in four Kerala districts. This was also the basis of Kerala’s call to Tamil Nadu to agree to the proposal to construct a new dam at Mullaperiyar to replace the old one.
Almost all political parties, including those in the ruling UDF, have demanded the AG’s removal for his affidavit. The Opposition has threatened to boycott the all-party meeting and the special Assembly session scheduled for Tuesday and Friday respectively to discuss the Mullaperiyar dam issue if the Government does not remove Dandapani from his post.
On Sunday morning, Dandapani met Chief Minister Oommen Chandy at his residence at Puthuppally in Kottayam district to explain his position over his affidavit in the court. However, Chandy told him that an explanation to him was not sufficient but he should explain the matter to the entire Cabinet. “He would appear before the Cabinet at its meeting on Wednesday,” Chandy told newsmen on Sunday morning. However, the decision to hold a meeting of the Cabinet on Monday itself was taken after certain Ministers, particularly Finance and Law Minister KM Mani, strongly demanded the AG’s removal.
Dandapani had explained that he had only reproduced in the court a report compiled by the Revenue Secretary on the Mullaperiyar issue but Mani said the AG should have taken the Law Ministry’s clearance to present any report in the court. “The AG should present in the court the Government’s stand and not anything that contradicted it,” he said.
In Kannur, Kunhalikutty said different parties in the Government should not have different stands on the Mullaperiyar issue. “There should be only one stand… It is the Government’s stand,” he said in indirect reference to Mani’s Kerala Congress (M), which had been agitating against Tamil Nadu on the dam issue despite the Chief Minister’s call for restraint.
An emergency meeting of the Kerala Cabinet will be held on Monday to find a way out of the crisis Advocate General KP Dandapani had created with his controversial affidavit in the High Court that went against the interests and stand of the Government in the dispute with Tamil Nadu over the 116-year-old Mullaperiyar dam.
Dandapani could most probably be removed from the position, sources said. He has been asked to provide an explanation to the Cabinet at its emergency meeting, most likely to be held at 10.00 pm Monday. Industries Minister PK Kunhalikutty said in Kannur on Sunday that the Cabinet meeting would take a decision on whether the AG would continue in the post.
The Advocate General had told the High Court on Friday that there would be no huge disaster even if the already weakened Mullaperiyar dam broke as the giant Idukki reservoir downstream could contain the waters of the Mullaperiyar reservoir. This was in total contrast with the stand of the Government, political parties and the people of Kerala on the vexed issue.
The State Government had been arguing that the Idukki reservoir would not contain the Mullaperiyar waters if the old dam broke and this could lead to the loss of over 35 lakh people in four Kerala districts. This was also the basis of Kerala’s call to Tamil Nadu to agree to the proposal to construct a new dam at Mullaperiyar to replace the old one.
Almost all political parties, including those in the ruling UDF, have demanded the AG’s removal for his affidavit. The Opposition has threatened to boycott the all-party meeting and the special Assembly session scheduled for Tuesday and Friday respectively to discuss the Mullaperiyar dam issue if the Government does not remove Dandapani from his post.
On Sunday morning, Dandapani met Chief Minister Oommen Chandy at his residence at Puthuppally in Kottayam district to explain his position over his affidavit in the court. However, Chandy told him that an explanation to him was not sufficient but he should explain the matter to the entire Cabinet. “He would appear before the Cabinet at its meeting on Wednesday,” Chandy told newsmen on Sunday morning. However, the decision to hold a meeting of the Cabinet on Monday itself was taken after certain Ministers, particularly Finance and Law Minister KM Mani, strongly demanded the AG’s removal.
Dandapani had explained that he had only reproduced in the court a report compiled by the Revenue Secretary on the Mullaperiyar issue but Mani said the AG should have taken the Law Ministry’s clearance to present any report in the court. “The AG should present in the court the Government’s stand and not anything that contradicted it,” he said.
In Kannur, Kunhalikutty said different parties in the Government should not have different stands on the Mullaperiyar issue. “There should be only one stand… It is the Government’s stand,” he said in indirect reference to Mani’s Kerala Congress (M), which had been agitating against Tamil Nadu on the dam issue despite the Chief Minister’s call for restraint.
