Arrest of Indian fishermen by Sri Lankan Navy: Madras High Court records Centre’s submission that JWG will meet at the earliest

Madras High Court disposes of PIL on Indian fishermen arrests by Sri Lankan Navy, MEA working on JWG meeting.

The Madras High Court on Friday, August 2, 2024 disposed of a public interest litigation petition which complained of frequent arrest of Indian fishermen by the Sri Lankan Navy, after recording the submission of the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) that steps are underway to hold a meeting of India-Sri Lanka Joint Working Group (JWG) on Fisheries at the earliest.

First Division Bench of Acting Chief Justice D. Krishnakumar and Justice K. Kumaresh Babu said, the court could not issue any direction to the Centre but for recording its submission that the JWG meeting would be conducted at the earliest. It disposed of the PIL petition filed by Fishermen Care, a private organisation working for the welfare of fishing community.

The petitioner’s counsel L.P. Maurya said, even on Thursday an Indian fisherman had lost his life on the high waters when his boat capsized in an attempt to evade arrest by the Sri Lankan Navy. He said, such incidents have been recurring time and again and therefore, there was an urgent need for the JWG to meet at the earliest and find a solution to the problem.

On his part, State Government Pleader A. Edwin Prabakar said, Chief Minister M.K. Stalin had written to the Centre impressing upon the need to prevent arrest of Indian fishermen. He said, the State government was highly concerned about their safety. However, Deputy Solicitor General (DSG) R. Rajesh Vivekananthan said, the Centre had been securing the release of arrested fishermen periodically.

The DSG accused the petitioner organisation of repeatedly filing cases in the High Court on the same issue. He said, the JWG, at the secretarial level, was set up following the decisions taken at a ministerial level meeting between the two nations in New Delhi on November 5, 2016 to find a lasting solution to long pending issues between the fishermen of the neighbouring countries.

Then, a decision was also taken to hold the ministerial level meetings once in six months and to set up a hotline between the coast guards of India and Sri Lanka. Thereafter, two rounds of ministerial level talks were held on January 2, 2017 in Colombo and on October 14, 2017 in New Delhi. Further, the secretarial-level JWG, too, met on five occasions and the last meeting was hosted by Sri Lanka virtually on March 25, 2022.

Though the sixth meeting of the JWG was planned in either November or December in 2023, it could not take place due to internal issues in the island nation. Therefore, MEA has been taking earnest steps to convene the meeting at the earliest possible date, the DSG added.