A bench led by Chief Justice Surya Kant will take up the Vijay government's plea on Thursday, after the state submitted that it was not receiving its due share of Cauvery water in a rain-deficient year.
The Supreme Court is set to hear Tamil Nadu's Cauvery petition on Thursday, August 13, in what will be the first judicial test of the Vijay government's legal push on the dispute. A bench comprising Chief Justice Surya Kant and Justices Joymalya Bagchi and V. Mohana agreed to list the matter after taking note of the state's submission that, in a rain-deficient year, Tamil Nadu was not receiving its due share of water. "We will list it for hearing on Thursday," the Chief Justice said.
The state approached the court on August 3, seeking implementation of the Cauvery Water Management Authority's decision of July 30. That decision, which upheld the Cauvery Water Regulation Committee's order of July 28 and rejected Karnataka's appeal against it, requires Karnataka to release 3,500 cusecs daily from its Kabini and Krishna Raja Sagara reservoirs for 15 days.
Calculated at that rate over 15 days, the volume works out to 4.536 TMC — which Tamil Nadu asked to receive on or before August 12. The state has argued in its plea that both the quantum recommended by the CWRC and the volume Karnataka has actually released fall well short of its requirements, putting the shortfall in its due share at 26.954 TMC.
| Date | Development |
|---|---|
| July 22 | 53rd CWMA meeting assesses basin water availability |
| July 28 | CWRC orders 3,500 cusecs at Biligundlu for 15 days |
| July 30 | CWMA upholds the order, rejects Karnataka's appeal |
| August 3 | Tamil Nadu moves the Supreme Court |
| August 11 | CWRC orders 12,000 cusecs daily from August 12 |
| August 13 | Supreme Court hearing listed |
The 53rd meeting of the CWMA, held in New Delhi on July 22, carried added weight because of a below-normal southwest monsoon and declining reservoir storage across the Cauvery basin. The Authority upheld the release order despite Karnataka's objection that a severe monsoon shortfall left it unable to comply — the same argument the upper riparian state has advanced in previous years of scarcity.
The DMK, the principal opposition party in the state, has separately moved the Supreme Court on the same issue, submitting that Karnataka must comply strictly with the court's final 2018 verdict and with the directions issued by the CWMA. On this question, government and opposition are asking the court for materially the same thing.
Thursday's hearing comes a day after the CWRC sharply raised its own direction to 12,000 cusecs per day for 15 days from August 12, and follows CM Vijay's defence of his Cauvery strategy in the Assembly on August 7, where he said he was prepared to face humiliation for Tamil Nadu's rights and would pursue every legal avenue available.
Supreme Court Cauvery Dispute CWMA Karnataka August 12, 2026