India’s Supreme Court to hear case against ceding Katchatheevu to Sri Lanka

India’s Supreme Court on Tuesday (March 25, 2025) allowed DMK leader T.R. Baalu to replace former Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M. Karunanidhi, who passed away in 2018, as petitioner in over a decade-old challenge against agreements entered into between India and Sri Lanka to “cede” Katchatheevu to the island nation.

A three-judge Bench headed by Chief Justice of India Sanjiv Khanna heard a short preliminary submission by senior advocate P. Wilson, for the petitioner side, that the agreements made on June 26 and 28, 1974 and another one on March 23, 1976, along with related communications surrendering Katchatheevu to Sri Lanka, were unconstitutional and void.

The court scheduled the case for final hearing on September 15, 2025. Mr. Wilson said his oral submissions would take a day approximately.

“The issue involved in this writ petition is the unconstitutional ceding of the island of Katchatheevu by the Prime Minister of India to the Island nation of Sri Lanka, completely disregarding the constitutional provisions and totally ignoring the federal polity of our country which is an integral part of the basic structure of the Constitution,” the petition filed by Mr. Karunanidhi had said.

The DMK patriarch had wanted a direction to protect the historic fishing rights and other traditional rights of Tamil Nadu fishermen in the waters of Palk Strait and Palk Bay and the waters around the island of Katchatheevu. He had sought a direction to the Union government to take appropriate actions to restore the pre-existing historic rights of the fishermen of Tamil Nadu to work the waters surrounding the island, take rest, dry their nets, worship in the Saint Antony’s Church there and participate in the festival in the church.

He had also sought a direction to the Centre to pay compensation for the loss of life and property suffered by Tamil Nadu fishermen. Tamil Nadu fishermen’s right to life, livelihood and the right to carry on fishing and other allied activities were infringed and abrogated by the Sri Lankan army and the navy, he had said.

In 2013, the Centre had filed a response to a separate writ petition by former Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Jayalalithaa’s writ petition, informing the court that the question of retrieval of Kachchatheevu from Sri Lanka did not arise as no territory belonging to India was ceded to Sri Lanka.

“No territory belonging to India was ceded nor sovereignty relinquished since the area in question was in dispute and had never been demarcated… Indian fishermen and pilgrims will enjoy access to visit Kachchatheevu and will not be required by Sri Lanka to obtain travel documents or visas for these purposes. The right of access is not to be understood to cover fishing rights around the island to Indian fishermen,” the Centre had submitted.

On the frequent incidents of firing against Indian fishermen by the Sri Lankan Navy and their arrest, the Centre had said “the government has always taken up on a priority basis with Sri Lanka including at the highest levels any incident involving safety and security of Indian fishermen in the waters between two countries. Whenever Indian fishermen were arrested, the government of India intervened and got them released”.

Katchatheevu is an uninhabited island located about ten miles north east of Rameswaram on the Indian side and nine miles south of Delft Island on the Sri Lankan side. It has an area of 285.20 acres and is a mile and 300 yards at its widest. It has no permanent population and does not possess any economic wealth. But the sea waters surrounding it are rich in marine life, especially prawns and a favourite fishing place for Indian fishermen from the districts of Ramanathapuram, Pudukkottai, Thanjavur and Nagapattinam, who use the island as their resting place while drying their nets.

Source: The Hindu
--Agencies