THE HINDU Editorial Vocabulary - April 3, 2018 - Topic 1

Cauvery again

It is unfortunate that the Cauvery dispute is once again before the Supreme Court, barely weeks after the final verdict. The Centre is to blame for the dispute going into another round of litigation. While Tamil Nadu has moved the court to initiate contempt proceedings against the Centre for not complying with the direction to frame a scheme to implement the water-sharing arrangement set out in the February 16 judgment, the Centre has sought three more months and some clarifications in the court order. 

It is difficult to believe the issue at hand is so perplexing that the Centre had no option but to come back to the court. It appears that it does not want to handle the issue until the Karnataka Assembly elections get over in mid-May. Political and electoral considerations appear to have dictated the Centre’s action. It is almost as if it believes that as long as the option of buying further time is available, it need not fulfil its legal obligations. It is unfortunate that just before the expiry of the court’s six-week deadline, the Centre came up with a petition asking the court to clarify whether the proposed scheme should be the same as that which the Tribunal had set out in its final award in 2007, or could be at variance with it.

It is true that there is a divergence of opinion between Tamil Nadu and Karnataka on the proposed mechanism and its composition. While Tamil Nadu wants the ‘scheme’ envisaged by the court to mean nothing other than the Cauvery Management Board and the Cauvery Water Regulation Committee, mentioned in the Tribunal’s final award, Karnataka says there is no reference to a ‘board’ in the apex court’s order, and that the Centre could frame a scheme different from that described by the Tribunal. It contends that the apex court envisaged a ‘dispute resolution body’, and not the ‘management board’ favoured by the Tribunal. Against this backdrop, the Centre could have exercised discretion and come up with a scheme that would include an inter-State body to oversee the water-sharing. At the latest hearing, the Chief Justice of India, Dipak Misra, observed that the term ‘scheme’ mentioned in the judgment did not refer to only a ‘board’. He also assured Tamil Nadu that the court would ensure that it was not deprived of its share of Cauvery water. It is an indication that it is not the nomenclature but the nature of the relief that matters. It will be wise for all parties to remember that disputes are better resolved on the basis of equity and not prolonged on expedient considerations. The Centre’s actions should not amount to undermining the finality of the highest court’s judgment, and should be unwaveringly in aid of its implementation.

Vocabulary

Unfortunate: having or marked by bad fortune

Example: The unfortunate Cunningham was fired

Synonyms: unlucky, hapless, jinxed, out of luck, luckless, wretched

Antonyms: well-off, miraculous, providential, felicitous

Dispute: a disagreement, argument, or debate.

Example: A territorial dispute between the two countries

Synonyms: debate, discussion, disputation, argument, controversy

Litigation: the process of taking legal action.

Example: The company wishes to avoid litigation

Synonyms: legal proceedings, legal action, lawsuit, legal dispute, legal case

Contempt: the feeling that a person or a thing is beneath consideration, worthless, or deserving scorn.

Example: He showed his contempt for his job by doing it very badly

Synonyms: scorn, disdain, disrespect, scornfulness, contemptuousness

Believe: accept something as true

Example: The superintendent believed Lancaster's story

Synonyms: be convinced by, trust, have confidence in, consider honest

Perplex: cause someone to feel completely baffled.

Example: She was perplexed by her husband's moodiness

Synonyms: puzzling, baffling, mystifying, mysterious, bewildering, confusing

Consideration: careful thought, typically over a period of time.

Example: A long process involving a great deal of careful consideration

Synonyms: thought, deliberation, reflection, contemplation, rumination

Obligation: an act or course of action to which a person is morally or legally bound; a duty or commitment.

Example: He has enough cash to meet his present obligations

Synonyms: duty, commitment, responsibility, moral imperative, function

Divergence: the process or state of diverging.

Example: The divergence between primates and other groups

Synonyms: separation, dividing, parting, forking, bifurcation

Envisage: contemplate or conceive of as a possibility or a desirable future event.

Example: The Rome Treaty envisaged free movement across frontiers

Synonyms: imagine, contemplate, visualize, envision, picture, conceive of

Ensure: make certain that something shall occur or be the case.

Example: The client must ensure that accurate records be kept

Synonyms: make sure, make certain, see to it, check, confirm, establish, verify

Prolong: extend the duration of.

Example: An idea that prolonged the life of the engine by many years

Synonyms: lengthen, extend, draw out, drag out, protract, spin out, stretch out

Expedient: convenient and practical, although possibly improper or immoral.

Example: Either side could break the agreement if it were expedient to do so

Synonyms: convenient, advantageous, in one's own interests, useful

Unwavering: steady or resolute; not wavering.

Example: She fixed him with an unwavering stare

Synonyms: steady, fixed, resolute, resolved, firm, constant, steadfast