CHENNAI: The Madras High Court has called for the details of the standard operating procedure (SOP) adopted by Central agencies for carrying out search and rescue (SAR) operations to save lives of fishermen who venture into the sea but are struck by mid sea calamities.
A division bench of justices AD Jagadish Chandira and B Karthikeyan issued the direction to the Centre, in this regard, recently while hearing a habeas corpus petition praying for action to trace a minor boy who has been missing in the sea off Marina Beach in Chennai since July this year.
The order assumes significance since 9 fishermen, who ventured into the sea from Kasimedu fishing harbour on a trawler, were fatally struck by the recent cyclone off the Andhra Pradesh coast and the relatives of the deceased and local fishing community blaming lack of swift action and coordination to respond to SOS calls for SAR operations.
During previous hearings, the court had directed the respondent authorities including the Greater Chennai Police (GCP) to provide details of the modes of search operations and the agencies involved.
Subsequently, a status report was filed by the GCP stating that there was an SOP and the Maritime Rescue Coordination Centre (MRCC), an arm of the National Maritime Search and Rescue Coordinating Authority, conducts the SAR operations at sea.
The bench felt that the status report did not contain the required information as sought; and so, suo motu impleaded the MRCC as a respondent in the case.
“Bearing in mind the larger interest of saving lives, we suo motu implead the MRCC of the National Maritime Search and Rescue Coordinating Authority, represented by its Officer-in-Charge, Varuna Salai, Chennai, as the fifth respondent in this petition,” it said in the recent order.
“We direct the Additional Solicitor General to get the details from the said authority as to the SOP and action taken by them for rescuing persons who venture into the sea,” the bench stated.
The bench adjourned the hearing to November 20.
The directions emanate from a habeas corpus petition filed by K Gopal of Madhavaram, Chennai, seeking directions to the concerned authorities to produce the body of his 17-year-old son who has been missing since July 5, 2026.
According to the petitioner, his son had gone to Marina Beach along with two of his friends. They had got down into the sea and were dragged by the waves. The petitioner’s son could not be rescued while his friends were saved. Aggrieved over lack of adequate steps by the concerned authorities, he filed the petition in the court seeking action to trace his son.