Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa on Tuesday filed an application in Supreme Court, urging it to expeditiously take up the hearing on a petition that she had filed on the Katchatheevu island in 2008.
In that writ petition, Jayalalithaa had sought a declaration that the cession (the act of ceding) of Katchatheevu island by India to Sri Lanka under an agreement dated June 26, 1974 as unconstitutional.
She had also sought a declaration as unconstitutional and non-est (a doctrine in contract law that allows a signing party to escape performance of the agreement) an agreement dated March 23, 1976 between India and Sri Lanka, on the maritime boundary between the two countries in the Gulf of Mannar and Bay of Bengal, by which the fishing rights of Indian fishermen and vessels had been given up.
Jayalalithaa had also sought a direction to the Union of India to take all measures to protect the life and livelihood of Indian fishermen fishing around the Katchatheevu island.
She contended that the present application was being filed for an expeditious hearing, in view of recent incidents of grave prejudice suffered by Indian fishermen through repeated attacks by the Sri Lankan Navy.