The Madras High Court on Monday directed the Centre to pursue its efforts to bring back 68 Indian fishermen, who were apprehended by the Sri Lankan authorities in December last year on charges of crossing the International Maritime Boundary Line (IMBL).
First Division Bench of Chief Justice Munishwar Nath Bhandari and Justice D. Bharatha Chakravarthy directed the High Court Registry to mark a copy of its order to the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) for taking all-out efforts through diplomatic channels.
The orders were passed while disposing of two public interest litigation (PIL) petitions, which had complained of the Indian fishermen being arrested frequently and, at times, subjected to ill-treatment by the Sri Lankan Navy, even when they fish within the Indian territorial waters.
During the course of hearing, the Chief Justice told advocate M. Radhakrishnan, who was representing one of the petitioners, that though the court sympathises with the poor fishermen, it could not do much because its territorial jurisdiction does not extend over the foreign government.
Further, stating that overexploitation of resources in the Indian waters appeared to be the prime reason for the fishermen entering the foreign waters, he requested Advocate General R. Shunmugasundaram to take up the issue with the State government and to find a solution.
One of the two PIL petitions had been filed by Armstrong Fernando, vice-chairman of All India Fishermen Congress, who had insisted on enforcing Articles 5 and 6 of the agreement entered, on the boundary in the historic waters between the two countries, while ceding Katchatheevu to the island nation in 1974.
He pointed out that Article 5 states Indian fishermen and pilgrims would enjoy access to visit Katchatheevu and would not be required by Sri Lanka to obtain travel documents or visas for these purposes and Article 6 states that vessels of India and Sri Lanka would enjoy in each other’s waters such rights as they had traditionally enjoyed therein.
“Due to political reasons, the respondents (the Centre and State government) are not monitoring the implementation of the clauses of the above mentioned agreement due to which, fishermen are made scapegoats,” his affidavit read.
