CHENNAI: Madras high court on Thursday granted anticipatory bail to the owner of the fishing boat — Selvazhagan — in which nine Kasimedu fishermen ventured into the sea on Oct 29 and went missing after the vessel suffered an engine breakdown.Justice V Lakshminarayanan granted the relief while allowing a plea moved by D Selvazhagan, a resident of Royapuram and the owner of the boat. He feared arrest by the Royapuram police for the offence under Section 106 (causing death by negligent act) of BNS.Representing the petitioner, advocate P Vijendran submitted that the unfortunate incident happened due to a natural calamity (cyclone Murasu) but police, with mala fide intention, were attempting to register a criminal case against the owner of the boat.According to the petitioner, on Oct 29, nine persons went fishing in his boat bearing Registration No IND-TN-02-MM-2584. Thereafter, on Nov 1, due to the possibility of a cyclone, the assistant director of the fishery department directed the fishermen to return to the shore.When the direction was issued, there were around 70 boats from Kasimedu in the sea including the boat belonging to the petitioner. Since there was no information about his boat and he was unable to contact any of the fishermen in his boat, he gave a representation to the fishery department and requested to initiate search and rescue operations on Nov 3.“The officials explained the action taken so far by the fisheries department and the Indian Coast Guard, including the ongoing search efforts and coordination with the authorities concerned. However, the family members insisted on expediting the search and recovery operations. Subsequently, following peace talks and assurances regarding continued efforts, the road blockade was withdrawn,” the petitioner said.This being the fact, suddenly, the police were trying to register an FIR against the petitioner for causing death due to negligence, he added.Meanwhile, bodies of three fishermen have been identified, while two other bodies have been recovered and are awaiting formal identification. Search operations are continuing for the remaining missing fishermen.
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