Centre Has Told The Madras High Court That ‘ICJ Has No Jurisdiction In Indian Fishermen Issue.’

The Centre has told the Madras High Court that there was no bilateral treaty between India and Sri Lanka conferring jurisdiction on the International Court of Justice (ICJ) to resolve issues related to alleged human rights violations committed by the Sri Lankan Navy against Indian fishermen on the high seas since 1983.
The submission was made in a counter-affidavit filed before the first Division Bench of Chief Justice Indira Banerjee and Justice Abdul Quddhose who were seized of a public interest litigation petition filed by Fishermen Care, a private body, that had sought for a direction to the Centre to refer the alleged violations to the ICJ.
Binoy George, Deputy Secretary (Sri Lanka), Ministry of External Affairs, had filed the counter-affidavit. According to him, there was neither a treaty nor any special agreement between the two countries for submitting the issue to the ICJ. “There is no legal basis available to India for invoking the ICJ’s jurisdiction in the present matter,” he said.
He went on to state that conduct of foreign policy in the country was purely an executive function not amenable to the writ jurisdiction of the High Courts under Article 226 of the Constitution. “It is respectfully submitted that seeking remedies against a foreign State is not amenable under Article 226 under which only infraction of a legal right is remedied,” he added.
Though the petitioner forum, in an affidavit filed through its counsel L.P. Maurya, had relied upon a judgment passed by the Gujarat High Court in 2011 in Jagjit Singh Aurora’s case related to the release of 54 Indian Prisoners of War from Pakistan’s custody by approaching the ICJ, the Centre contended that the judgment would not apply to the present issue on hand.
Mr. George explained that the Gujarat High Court had on December 23, 2011, directed the Centre to approach the ICJ for securing the release of Indian prisoners of the 1965 and 1971 wars. However, the Centre took the judgment on appeal to the Supreme Court and got it stayed in 2012 on the ground that such matters could not be taken to the ICJ, he pointed out.
“The Government, through diplomatic channels, immediately secures consular access in all such cases and also initiates dialogues with the Sri Lankan authorities to ensure the safety, security and early release and repatriation of Indian fishermen,” the counter affidavit read. It also asserted that the Centre had intensified efforts to find a permanent solution.
The Ministry also said: “During the interactions with their Sri Lankan counterparts, the Prime Minister and External Affairs Minister have pointed out that the issue of fishermen is an emotive and complex one involving livelihood, long standing socio economic practices and humanitarian concerns on both sides and thus needs to be handled with great care and sensitivity.”