The Madras High Court has dismissed a petition filed by AIADMK whip and sitting MLA Agri Krishnamurthy, which challenged an amendment to a Tamil Nadu Assembly resolution concerning the Mekedatu dam dispute. The bench, led by Chief Justice S.A. Dharmadhikari and Justice G. Arul Murugan, threw out the case on Wednesday.
The original resolution was passed by the Assembly on June 19 to oppose Karnataka’s plan to build a reservoir at Mekedatu across the Cauvery, and it was amended during the session to urge the Centre to constitute a tribunal. The AIADMK argued that the amendment was missing from the copy circulated to legislators the previous day, was adopted without debate in breach of House procedure, and was falsely forwarded to the Union government as having passed unanimously.
The state government countered that the resolution was merely a request to the Centre rather than an enforceable decision, and maintained that an act of the Legislature is a political matter that cannot be challenged via a writ petition. The court’s dismissal removes a legal cloud over the state’s formal position on the issue.