India rules out reopening agreements

Fisheries and Aquatic Resources Minister Ramalingam Chandrasekaran has welcomed the Indian declaration as regards the status of Katchatheevu.

The NPPer appreciated New Delhi’s stand during the debate on the Anti-Corruption (Amendment) Bill recently. The Minister called the dismissal of DMK and AIADMK bid to regain Katchatheevu a historic decision.

The Indian government has told the Supreme Court it will not reopen the agreements under which Katchatheevu was ceded to Sri Lanka, citing its “excellent relationship” with Colombo, as the court told New Delhi and Tamil Nadu to make fishermen aware of the maritime boundary.

A bench of Justices Sanjay Kumar and Sanjeev Sachdeva was hearing petitions, pending since 2008, that challenge the “unconstitutional ceding” of Katchatheevu under the 1974 maritime agreement and the 1976 agreement that restricted Indian fishermen’s rights in Sri Lankan waters. Senior Advocate P. Wilson, for the petitioners, argued that because the 1974 agreement transferred territory, it required an amendment to the Indian Constitution.

India’s Attorney General, R. Venkataramani, said the government did not want to reopen the issue and that India had an “excellent relationship” with Sri Lanka it did not want to spoil. He told the court that concerns involving Indian fishermen were being pursued through diplomatic channels, but that India could not compel Sri Lanka to accept its position.

“Fishermen are told not to go into the territorial waters of Sri Lanka, they still venture there,” he said, adding that depleted fish stocks and pollution on the Indian side were driving them across the boundary. “We are polluting our seas. They are not coming here.”

“Either you sensitise the fishermen to not go beyond a particular point,” Justice Kumar said. Tamil Nadu’s counsel argued that the central government should resolve the issue with Sri Lanka. The court did not rule on the validity of the agreements, and the case will be heard again in February 2027.

Police have arrested a person on suspicion over an incident where 54-year-old restaurant owner Thushara Sampath, was shot dead near his business place at Nagoda, on 09 October. The arrest was made at Navaladi, in the Batticaloa area. Police commandos arrested him while he was travelling in a bus bound for Batticaloa.

The suspected gunman was produced before the Valaichenai Magistrate court and police obtained a detention order for five days.

The wife of the businessman, who received gunshot injuries, succumbed to her injuries yesterday (11) while receiving treatment at the Nagoda hospital. She was 52.

The two victims were shot around 7.40 a.m., on 9 Oct. Two unidentified persons arrived on a motorcycle and one of them opened fire with a T-56 assault rifle before fleeing the scene.

Sources said that the businessman had been in contact with a person identified as Bombuwala Naveen widely believed to be a narcotics dealer. Sources said he had lost an eye a few years ago as a result of an acid attack.

Meanwhile, police said that two close associates of Bombuwala Naveen had been arrested in connection with the ongoing investigation.

Sixteen former ministers and three former state ministers have been convicted in cases filed by the Commission to Investigate Allegations of Bribery or Corruption (CIABOC) since the incumbent government came to power, Deputy Minister of Public Security Sunil Watagala has told Parliament.

According to Watagala, CIABOC investigations, between October 2024 and October 2026, led to the arrest of a former chief minister, four wives of former ministers, seven children of former ministers and six former local government chairpersons. A total of 226 people have been arrested over bribery and corruption allegations during this period, 55 of them politicians.

Watagala has attributed the pace of the investigations to government measures to strengthen the independence of state institutions.