TaxTMI 
TaxTMI 
2026 (9) TMI 173
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....nding before this Court^1. 2. The short facts necessary for our determination are as follows. In 1983, the State of Tamil Nadu exercising its legislative mandate under List II Entry 21 of the Seventh Schedule of the Constitution of India enacted the Tamil Nadu Marine Fishing Regulation Act, 1983 ["1983 Act"]. Provisions of this Act that are relevant for our purpose are; Section 3(k) defining "specified area" as an area in the sea along the coastline of the State, but not beyond territorial waters, Section 5 empowering the State Government to issue notifications to regulate, restrict, or prohibit fishing activities in the specified area and Section 7 requiring the owner of any fishing vessel to apply to an authorized officer for a license to fish in specified area. 3. In exercise of the powers under the Act, State of Tamil Nadu issued G.O. MS No. 40 dated 25.03.2000 (hereinafter referred to as the impugned G.O) through the Department of Animal Husbandry, Dairying and Fisheries prohibiting fishing using purse seine nets within the territorial waters for the purposes of conservation of juvenile fishing stock. The impugned G.O. reads as follows: "PROHIBITION OF FISHING B....
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....stal area of the State." 5. The grievance of the applicants is that the State of Tamil Nadu is invoking Marine Fishing Regulation Rules, 2020 to prevent them from even carrying these purse seine nets to the EEZ for fishing beyond 12 nautical miles which is outside the realm of the State's regulation. 5.1 Per Contra, the State of Tamil Nadu submits that as per Rule 17(7), even carrying purse seine nets in a fishing vessel is a violation of the ban. Moreover, fishing entities could use their vessels with purse seine nets in the territorial waters itself while proceeding to the EEZ. The concern of the State is that under the guise of fishing in the EEZ, the applicants could employ purse seine nets within 12 nautical miles, and it is difficult for the State to regulate such activities despite the clear prohibition under Rule 17(7). 6. The ban imposed by the impugned GO was the subject matter of litigation before the Madras High Court. By the judgment and order dated 20.04.2021, the High Court dismissed the Writ Petition challenging the said GO. The petitioners therein filed a Special Leave Petition against the said order and during the pendency of the Special Leave Petition^2,....
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....apture of juveniles through mesh size regulation and notifying minimum legal size (MLS) for major targeted species, installation of vessel monitoring details system (VMS), and guidelines for vessel construction and adoption of sea safety measure." 9. A broad overview of these recommendations indicates that purse seine nets do not cause any major environmental harm in the maritime zones on population of fishing stocks. While an outright blanket ban is not suggested, the Expert Committee's view was that there must be effective regulation on the use of these nets. 10. Taking note of the limited relief sought by the applicants, i.e. to transit through Tamil Nadu's territorial waters to fish in the EEZ, this Court by order dated 24.01.2023 made an interim arrangement to the following effect; "13. After hearing both sides at some length, we are of a prima facie opinion, that interest of all parties need to be protected. Hence, we propose to pass a restricted interim order, allowing the Purse Seine Fishing beyond the territorial waters of Tamil Nadu, but within the Exclusive Economic Zone, with certain conditions. These conditions are as follows: i) Only r....
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.... in India along with sustainability concerns of overfishing. It also examined State-Wise guidelines regulating purse seine nets as well as stakeholders' concerns regarding the asymmetric regulatory regimes across different States. While balancing the economic interests of purse seine net users with environmental sustainability, the Expert Committee recommended: a) For innocent passage of vessels which intend to fish in the EEZ through the territorial waters regulated by the State, special annual permits may be issued by Tamil Nadu Fishing authorities based on specified criteria such as the optimum fishing fleet for different vessel categories and the age of the vessel. The State may also provide designated landing centres and harbours for docking such permitted fishing vessels. b) For fisheries management in the State of Tamil Nadu guidelines have been issued which contain spatial, temporal and technical regulations regarding the use of these nets depending on the territorial zone of fishing. c) Introduction and enforcement of a Vehicle Monitoring System (VMS) and a Distress Alert Transmitter by the State to ensure the safety of fishing vessels. This syst....
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....al or unregulated fishing under Rule 15. 13. We now have the entire legal regime through which purse seine fishing can be regulated in the EEZ, while addressing the concerns of the State Government within the territorial waters. 14. There are two distinct legal regimes, operating in two regulatory provinces, while one regulates fishing activities in the EEZ governed by the EEZ Rules, 2025, the other regulates such activities in the territorial waters governed by the Marine Fishing Regulation Rules, 2020. Before addressing the question of access under these two sets of rules, we make it clear that there is no conflict between the EEZ Rules, 2025 of the Union and the Marine Fishery Regulation Rules, 2020 of the State of Tamil Nadu. While the power to regulate fishing and fisheries beyond territorial waters falls under Entry 57 of List I and lies within the legislative competence of the Parliament and the executive power of the Union, the legislative power to regulate fisheries in territorial waters vests with the State Legislature under Entry 21 of List II and the executive power of the State. The powers of both the Union and the State are co-equal and autonomous in each of the....