The decision was taken by Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami during a meeting with his senior cabinet colleagues and top bureaucrats on Thursday after the six-week deadline set by the apex court was overshot.

Tamil Nadu has decided to move a contempt petition before the Supreme Court against the Union Government for not constituting the Cauvery Management Board (CMB) within six weeks.The decision was taken by Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami during a meeting with his senior cabinet colleagues and top bureaucrats on Thursday after the six-week deadline set by the apex court was overshot

The Tamil Nadu government has been appealing to the Union Government to set up CMB within six weeks of the court order on February 16 that asked a scheme to be set up to effectively monitor the implementation of the Cauvery Water Disputes Tribunal award in 2007.

While Karnataka contends that the scheme does not necessarily mean CMB, Tamil Nadu interprets it otherwise.

Highly-placed sources in the government said it had no option but to move a contempt petition against the Supreme Court, given the public sentiment in the state.

Political parties, including principal Opposition party, the DMK, have been ratcheting up pressure on the government to act quickly to ensure that the CMB is formed.

The decision of the government has been conveyed to the law officers of the state and the process to file the petition will begin. Sources said the petition may be filled on Saturday.

Since tempers ran high in the state, with a few Lok Sabha MPs threatening to resign if the CMB was not formed, top AIADMK leaders were instructed to convey the decision to MLAs and MPs.

"It is the MLAs and MPs who face the people on the ground. So, the decision of the Tamil Nadu government to move contempt petition against the Centre in SC has been conveyed to them so that they can convince the people," a senior party leader told DH.

Another senior leader said the decision was necessary to drive home the point that the AIADMK government will not dance to the tunes of the BJP all the time, especially when it comes to protecting the interests of the state.

The decision came on a day when almost all parties accused the government of being "incompetent" and not exerting enough pressure on the Centre to implement the SC order.

Newbie politicians Kamal Haasan and Rajinikanth also joined the bandwagon maintaining that constitution of the CMB was the only option before the Centre.

Legal experts had suggested two options to the Tamil Nadu Government on Tuesday - move a petition before the Supreme Court seeking clarification of what "scheme" meant or file a contempt petition against the Centre in the apex court.

Meanwhile, the DMK will hold its all-powerful Executive Committee meeting on Friday to decide the strategy to be adopted by the party on the Cauvery issue.