On June 7, the Kerala High Court directed the CPI(M)-led State government to nominate a senior-most bureaucrat to assist the court in the suo motu PIL concerning the ‘Kerala Boat Tragedy,’ claiming 22 lives, including 15 children, in May 2023. The court said, “We direct the Chief Secretary to nominate a senior most Bureaucrat, under whose jurisdiction a few of the Departments do come, to assist this Court in the matter.”
The Division Bench, comprising Chief Justice SVN Bhatti and Justice Basant Balaji, also noted that the government had requested time to file a comprehensive report on the incident and measures to prevent such incidents. The court noted, “Senior Government Pleader V. Manu requests time to file a comprehensive report of an Officer authorised by the Chief Secretary on the subject incident and the measures taken to prevent such unfortunate incidents, learnt in a hard way from the experience or cautioned by reports.”
Poseidon Tragedies Happening in Frightening Regularity
On May 9, the Kerala High Court took suo motu cognisance into the ‘Kerala Boat Tragedy’, which took place in Thanoor, Malappuram district, wherein 22 people drowned, including women and children. The court said, “Twenty two precious lives have been lost in a boat tragedy at Thanoor, Malappuram, a day ago – which, by initial accounts, was one that should have never happened and fully averted.”
The Division Bench, comprising Justices Devan Ramachandran and Shoba Annamma Eapen, presided over the case. The court said that hundreds of boats are operating in tourism and that if the present state of affairs is allowed to continue, such incidents are further waiting to happen. “More so, since our State has hundreds of boats in tourism and a further such incident, though unthinkable, is waiting to happen some where, some place, if the present state of affairs are allowed to continue,” said the court.
The court noted a trend of boat accidents in the state, referring to “Redeemer”, which capsized in January 1924, drowning 35 people to “Jalakanyaka”, which went down in the water in 2009 at Idukki, killing 45; and “other Poseidon tragedies with lesser fatalities happening thereafter in frightening regularity.”
The court observed that the citizens seem justifiably indurated to the news of the loss of lives caused solely by the “deathly cocktail of callousness, indifference, greed and official apathy.” Furthermore, the court suggested that the proposed compensation for the victims and their families in such accidents must be recovered from the negligent officers responsible.
Justice Ramachandran remarked, “We are seeing such incidents happening in years. Every time, large number of lives are lost. In this particular incident, why didn’t anyone know that there was overloading happening?” He further said, “We are seeing this from prism of 22 families who have lost their loved ones. 22 people have died. Police were not there. No supervision at all. You let the private operator do whatever they want.”
The court asked, “How many more will we have to see?” The court continued to answer its question and said, “Many more, unless we now put our foot firmly down,” stating that the “conspicuous and patently visible causal factors – overloading, blatant violation of statutory imperatives and criminal absence of essential safety requirements, even life jackets – are repeated with impunity, without any fear, care or caution.”
The court observed that each tragedy triggers routine investigations, followed by recommendations, but never to be heeded thereafter. The court observed, “The obdurate refusal to follow and to enforce the most basic safety protocols – which are taken for granted in the civilised world – is the most infuriating, to say the least.”
The court stated that prima facie, if the authorities “invested with the vital legal and statutory duty to watch and monitor,” then the tragedy, like the several earlier ones, would never have happened. The court added, “Their responsibility and onus is no lesser – if not much more – than that the operators, since it is because their illegal actions obtain deliberate or other support, that violations are perpetrated with no fear of law.”
The court said, “The final loss is to the citizens and no other, because instances like this are erased from memory soon.” The court further added, “Judicial intervention, therefore, in our firm view, now becomes necessitous, lest the unfortunate loss of lives are forgotten.”
Justice Ramachandran said, “The lifeless bodies of the children, it has become difficult for us to sleep now. We will not let this be forgotten,” while proposing to initiate Suo Motu action. He added, “22 people died. Children died. And our hearts are bleeding. Nobody has a fear of law anymore.”
Meanwhile, the boat owner Nasser was arrested and sent to 14 days of judicial custody. An angry mob blocked the vehicle, which carried him to the jail from court. Furthermore, the District Police chief told the media that Nasser had been charged u/s 302 IPC for murder.
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