Mitali Palnitkar
Published On: December 29, 2021 at 20:57 IST
A Status Report was sought from the Centre by the Madras High Court. The Status report was sought based on a Plea seeking the Court to direct the Central and State governments to take steps for the 68 Tamil Nadu fishermen who were Arrested in December by the Sri Lankan Naval Forces.
The Status Report was sought by a Division Bench comprising of Justice C V Karthikeyan and Justice S Srimathy.
During the Hearing, Advocate General R Shunmugasundaram, who appeared for the State stated that the 68 fishermen had been Remanded in Judicial Custody by the Courts in Sri Lanka. The Charges were that they had poached into the territorial waters of Sri Lanka. He also stated that the Chief Minister M K Stalin had sought intervention from the Centre for the release of fishermen.
Assistant Solicitor General, L Victoria Gowri who appeared for the Centre stated that diplomatic channels for talks with Authorities of Sri Lanka had been opened by the Indian Authorities. She sought time for submitting a detailed report.
The Public Interest Litigation (PIL) was filed by the Coordinator of Tamil Nadu Meenavar Urimai Padukappu Iyakkam, Ramanthapuram; G Thirumurugan. He stated that the 68 fishermen had been Arrested by the Sri Lankan Authorities in between December 18-20. He also stated that the Authorities had sprayed disinfectant on the fishermen which was violative of Human Rights. He said that the video in which the fishermen had been doused in a chemical solution had gone viral on social media.
He sought the release of the fishermen along with their boats. The Case was Adjourned to December 31, 2021.