Find a lasting solution to the fishermen problem, Madras High Court tells Centre

Chief Justice Sanjay V. Gangapurwala and Justice D. Bharatha Chakravarthy grant govt. time till March 25 to find out whether a meeting of the India-Sri Lanka Joint Working Group on Fisheries can be convened

The judges expressed grave concern over frequent complaints of Indian fishermen being arrested and their boats being damaged.

The Madras High Court on Monday impressed upon the need for the Centre to find a lasting solution to the recurring problem of Indian fishermen being arrested and their boats being seized by the Sri Lankan Navy on charges of crossing the International Maritime Boundary Line (IMBL).

Chief Justice Sanjay V. Gangapurwala and Justice D. Bharatha Chakravarthy granted time till March 25 for Deputy Solicitor General R. Rajesh Vivekananthan to get instructions from the Ministry of External Affairs on the possibility of convening a meeting of the India-Sri Lanka Joint Working Group on Fisheries.

The judges expressed grave concern over frequent complaints of Indian fishermen being arrested and their boats being damaged during the hearing of a public interest litigation petition filed by Fishermen Care, a private body, in February this year complaining about the arrest of six Ramanathapuram fishermen in January.

The Chief Justice referred to latest news reports of as many as 22 fishermen from Tamil Nadu and Puducherry having been arrested in March too and wondered why the Centre not take immediate steps to find a solution to the issue since it concerned the livelihood of not only the fishermen but also their families.

The judges said, even the compensation of ₹250 per day paid by the State government to the families of the arrested fishermen was very low and that it should be increased substantially. Justice Chakravarthy said, apart from the arrest, the fishermen also suffer heavy losses due to damages caused to their boats.

In his submissions, advocate L.P. Maurya, said, Fishermen Care had been working for the protection for long. Stating that India had a historic title over the island of Katchatheevu, he said, the Madras Presidency had by an order dated August 11, 1949 declared it to be a barren island under Rameswaram revenue village.

The island was spread over 258 acres and 20 cents. However, while determining the maritime boundary between India and Sri Lanka in the Palk Strait, these historic facts were not taken into account properly and the principle of equidistance from both the nations was also not followed, he complained.

Nevertheless, Article 6 of the agreement signed by the Prime Ministers of India and Sri Lanka in 1974 read that “the vessels of India and Sri Lanka will enjoy in each other waters such right as they have traditionally enjoyed therein,” despite ceding Katchatheevu to the island nation.

However, during the Emergency period on March 23, 1976, the then Foreign Secretary of India issued an executive instruction taking away the traditional rights of the fishermen and this became the reason for the Sri Lankan Navy to begin arresting the Indian fishermen, he claimed.