The Supreme Court heard Tamil Nadu's complaint of a Cauvery water backlog on October 12, with Karnataka defending the authority-led releases in a drought-hit water year.

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• The Supreme Court took up Tamil Nadu's application on October 12 alleging short supply of Cauvery water by Karnataka.
• On September 24, a bench led by Justice Vikram Nath asked Karnataka to respond to Tamil Nadu's claimed deficit of about 20 TMC.
• Tamil Nadu's counsel argued that a backlog of about 15 TMC must be released immediately.
• Karnataka replied that the Cauvery Water Regulation Committee and the Cauvery Water Management Authority are expert bodies and that it is releasing water as directed.
• The court is reported to have reserved its judgment after hearing both sides.
• A CWMA direction of October 8 requires Karnataka to ensure 3,000 cusecs at Biligundlu for 15 days from October 9.
• Tamil Nadu has sought revision of that direction so that the shortfall is made good within another 15 days.
• Tamil Nadu says about 8.5 TMC of Kerala's unutilised Kabini sub-basin flows are due to it but are going to Karnataka.
• Tamil Nadu also argues that expected northeast monsoon rain cannot justify denying it the share due from the southwest monsoon.
• Karnataka has described the 2026-27 water year as a distress year because of the El Nino effect.
• The 2018 Supreme Court judgment modified the tribunal award and sets the sharing framework, with Tamil Nadu's normal-year share at Biligundlu around 177.25 TMC.
• Kerala and Puducherry are also stakeholders in the Cauvery basin, making the dispute a test of cooperative federalism in scarcity.