Katchatheevu: Status of Jayalalithaa’s plea in SC sought

The division bench comprising Justice S Manikumar and Justice Subramonium Prasad before whom the plea moved by fisherman care came seeking to refer the harassment suffered by Tamil Nadu fishermen in the hands of Sri Lankan Navy to the International Court of Justice, directed the state to file the status of the case moved by late Jayalalithaa, within the next 10 days.

The former CM in her capacity as General Secretary of AIADMK had sought the Supreme Court to consider the 1974 and 1976 agreements, which have been the root cause for the untold misery of Tamil Nadu fishermen as null and void in the absence of the mandatory constitutional amendment required and retrieve Katchatheevu.

However, the state in a status report filed noted that unless the Government of India through diplomatic channels puts pressure on Sri Lanka there appears to be little chance of securing the prompt release of TN fishermen or to avert such instances in the future.

The report also noted that GoI must prevail upon the Lankan government to rein in their navy to desist from these hostile attacks and take action to secure the release of these fishermen, there seems to be no scope for the peaceful existence and assured livelihood of TN’s fishermen in their traditional water of Palk Bay. It was further submitted that since 2011 a total of 3,033 fishermen and 393 fishing boats have been released while as on August 16, 2018 there are 29 Fishermen and 177 boats still languishing in Sri Lankan custody.