Fishermen issue: MLA allowed to amend prayer

Claiming that the Indian fishermen’s boats were often dragged into the Sri Lankan waters owing to intense tidal movement, the petitioner said that the Sri Lankan Navy must not react to such entry by firing and electrocuting the fishermen

The Madras High Court Bench here on Tuesday allowed an amendment petition filed by M.H. Jawahirullah, Ramanathapuram MLA and coordinator of Manithaneya Makkal Katchi, to change the plea made in a public interest litigation petition filed by him in February this year with regard to accusations of Tamil fishermen being subjected to frequent attacks by the Sri Lankan Navy.

A Division Bench comprising Justice R. Banumathi and Justice G.M. Akbar Ali permitted the MLA to remove his earlier prayer seeking a direction to the Union Law Ministry to institute a dispute against Sri Lanka in the International Court of Justice (ICJ) for reclamation of Katchatheevu. The plea was withdrawn because a similar case filed by Chief Minister Jayalalithaa, when she was in the opposition in August 2008, was still pending before the Supreme Court.

The MLA restricted his prayer in the PIL petition to the extent of making Sri Lanka accountable before the ICJ for alleged killings and illegal detention of Tamil fishermen by the Sri Lankan Navy. He also sought for a direction to the Union Ministries of Home and External Affairs as well as the State government to ensure safety of fishermen in the Palk Strait and Indian territorial waters.

In the affidavit filed in support of the PIL petition, the MLA stated that the agreements reached between India and Sri Lanka in 1974 and 1976 for ceding Katchatheevu were unconstitutional. He claimed that no part of the Indian territory could be given away without amending the Constitution as held by the Supreme Court in 1960 while answering a Presidential reference on the implementation of Indo-Pak agreement relating to Berubari Union.

Claiming that the Indian fishermen’s boats were often dragged into the Sri Lankan waters owing to intense tidal movement, he said that the Sri Lankan Navy must not react to such entry by firing, electrocuting, whipping, and stripping the fishermen. It amounted to violation of International Convention Against Torture to which both India and Sri Lanka were signatories.

The petitioner claimed that so far more than 500 fishermen had been killed; 3,000 permanently disabled; and many more subjected to various kinds of physical and sexual abuse. Apart from this, more than 1,752 fishermen had disappeared in the high seas. He also accused the Centre of inaction.