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Armed with a consensus from major political parties in the State, the Karnataka Cabinet on Wednesday night decided not to implement the Supreme Court’s directive to release Cauvery water till September 23, 2016 when a special session of the State legislature will be convened to take a call on the issue.

The decision that sets the stage for a confrontation with the apex court, was taken by the State Cabinet after an all-party meeting advised the government not to release water to Tamil Nadu as that may result in shortage of drinking water for the State.

The Supreme Court on Tuesday directed Karnataka to release 6,000 cusecs of Cauvery water a day to Tamil Nadu from September 21 to 27.

Chief Minister Siddaramaiah who chaired the all party meeting and Cabinet meeting on Wednesday evening, said "Following the advise by the all-party meeting, the Cabinet has resolved to defer the water release to Tamil Nadu till September 23.”

While the principal opposition BJP abstained from the all-party meeting as it said “it had lost faith in the State government”, party State president B. S. Yeddyurappa welcomed the Cabinet’s decision to defer the release of water.

Speaking to reporters after the all-party meeting, Mr. Siddaramaiah reiterated that it was an “unimplementable” order. It is learnt that the special legislature session would discuss the apex court directive and adopt a resolution directing the executive not to release Cauvery water.

This, according to legal experts, was seen as the “most viable option” as the State government could then plead before the apex court that it could not implement its order as there was a contrarian directive from the legislature.

Explaining the present position of the State, Congress MPs, speaking at the all-party meeting, said the State’s water storage from all the four reservoirs in the Cauvery basin stood at a mere 28 tmcft and the drinking water requirement itself would be 27 tmcft till May 2017. In this backdrop, as expressed before the Supreme Court, the State is not in a position to release water for agricultural purposes in Tamil Nadu, they said.

It is believed that the option of calling a legislature session to adopt a resolution was suggested by the State’s legal team. Earlier in the day, at a meeting of the State Cabinet, the pros and cons of “defying” the apex court’s order was discussed in detail. It is also believed that Mr. Siddaramaiah was keen to have the support of all political parties before proceeding further on the matter.

In fact, ahead of the all-party meeting, he had even gone to meet his bete noire, former Prime Minister H. D. Deve Gowda at the latter’s residence, the first such meeting in a decade. Others who attended the all-party meet included senior Congress leaders M. Mallikarjun Kharge, Veerappa Moily, Oscar Fernandes and JD (S) State president H.D. Kumaraswamy among others.

1. The Karnataka cabinet has decided to hold a special session of the legislative assembly on September 23, which will discuss the state’s response to Tuesday’s Supreme Court order. Till the assembly reaches a decision, the cabinet has decided to defer the release of water, which usually happens at night.
2. The Supreme Court order is "not implementable", said former Union law minister Veerappa Moily after an all-party meeting earlier in the evening. "What is contempt (of court) when we are dying?" added Congress’ Mallikarjun Kharge.
3. Former Prime Minister and JD(U) leader HD Deve Gowda told NDTV that his advice was not to release water."Drinking water is more important than crops.If crops fail, farmers can be compensated," he said.
4. Former chief minister and Janata Dal (Secular) leader HD Kumaraswamy expressed the view that no Cauvery water should be released to Tamil Nadu now despite the Supreme Court order.
5. The BJP boycotted the all-party meet and demanded a special session of the legislature.
6. The government also fears that the release of more water can result in another outbreak of protests across the state. Yesterday, eminent jurist and constitutional expert Fali Nariman had warned the Supreme Court that the order will have "consequences" and that is the "ground reality."
7. Karnataka remained largely peaceful today, and schools, colleges and offices remained open. Sporadic protests were reported from parts of Bengaluru and Mandya.
8. While it has opposed any sharing of water with Tamil Nadu, the BJP -- one of the two largest opposition parties -- has remained critical of the Siddaramaiah government’s handling of the situation.
9. Karnataka is opposing the release of more water, claiming that with the rainfall being deficient, there is not enough water for drinking purposes. More than 80 per cent of the water requirements of key cities like Bengaluru and Mysuru are met from the Cauvery waters.
10. The livelihoods of more than 4 lakh farmers and 16 lakh farm laborers in Tamil Nadu are dependent on release of Cauvery water. Karnataka has claimed Tamil Nadu will benefit from the north-east monsoon in October.