The Madras High Court on Friday sought the response of the State Government and the Tamil Nadu State Election Commission to a public interest litigation petition which sought to declare fishermen settlements in all 13 coastal districts in the State as separate panchayats before the conduct of the local body polls.
A Division Bench of Justices T.S. Sivagnanam and V. Bhavani Subbaroyan ordered notices returnable by August 17 on the PIL petition filed by Fishermen Care, a non-governmental organisation, through its counsel L.P. Maurya. The petitioner had insisted on making the declaration as part of the ongoing delimitation exercise.
In an affidavit, filed in support of the petition, the president of the NGO L.T.A. Peter Ryan said that there were a total of 608 fishing villages with a population of 9.24 lakh in the State. He recalled that the Mandal Commision had, in 1980, recommended declaration of fishermen settlements as separate constituencies.
Accusing the government of ignoring the recommendation, the petitioner impressed upon the need to implement it at the earliest for the benefit of the fishermen community.