CHENNAI: Madras high court on Thursday deferred the arrest of the owner of the mechanised fishing boat — Selvazhagan — in which nine Kasimedu fishermen venture into the sea on Oct 29 and went missing after the vessel suffered an engine breakdown.Justice V Lakshminarayanan passed the interim order on a plea moved by D Selvazhagan, a resident of Royapuram and owner of the boat. He feared arrest by the Royapuram police for the offence under Section 106 (causing death negligent act) of BNS.Representing the petitioner, advocate P Vijendran submitted that the petitioner is the owner of the boat bearing Registration No INDTN-02-MM-2584.The boat had nine crew members. It sailed from the Kasimedu fishing harbour on Oct 29. On Nov 1, the assistant director of fisheries directed all the boats to return to the shores due to cyclone Murasu. Out of the 70 boats which left the harbour, two boats had not returned, one of which belonged to the petitioner, he said.“Complaints were lodged and the Indian Coast Guard traced the boat on the Bay of Bengal. Out of nine fishermen, four were dead and search is going on for the remaining five fishermen,” he said.Responding to the plea, additional public prosecutor Arun Anbumani submitted that on the basis of a complaint given by Parvathi, wife of Pakkiri Surya, the fishing harbour police station registered an FIR on Nov 3.“On Oct 28, the fisheries department had informed the owners that the ships / boats must not venture out. However, the petitioner had pressured the crew to move the shores. Therefore, the petitioner had been called upon to present himself before the police,” he said.He added that the petitioner was yet to be remanded and was being inquired in on premises of the fishing harbour police station.Recording the submissions, the court said, “This case would require a counter from the police. As the facts are more or less clear, prima facie, this court is of the view that custodial interrogation is not necessary in this case.”“However, the petitioner shall present himself before the police every day at 10am or 6pm or whenever he is so required, for inquiry till Nov 11. The remand proceedings will be deferred until then,” the court said.
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