The Supreme Court's division bench, presided over by Justices AS Bopanna and Hima Kohli, issued limited interim orders on January 23 in response to a number of temporary applications seeking an immediate stay of the Tamil Nadu Government's order banning the use of purse seine nets for fishing, which was issued on February 17, 2022.

The Court issued a ruling approving purse-seine fishing with restrictions inside the Exclusive Economic Zone but beyond Tamil Nadu's territorial seas.

The following criteria were read aloud by the Bench: 

1. Only fishing vessels registered in accordance with Section 11 of the Act as of the date in question will be granted permission. 

2. Only those boats with approved vessel tracking systems installed will receive permission from the Fisheries Department. 

3. Only two days per week—Monday and Thursday—will be allowed for vessel operations. 

4. Vessels granted this permission must depart the coastline no later than 8 AM and must successfully return by 6 PM the same day. 

5. ID cards must be carried at all times.

Justice Bopanna said after the court made the aforementioned decision that it had given it some thought and taken into account the interests of all parties. 

Later on, he added that the order was founded on the "Jiyo and Jeene do" ideology (Live and Let Live). "We can't take all contingencies into consideration. This order is to ensure that every body should survive kind of policy. Nothing more than that," he later added.

It is significant to note that the interim applications were submitted as part of a group of Special Leave Petitions that were filed in opposition to the Madras High Court's decision and order upholding the ban imposed by the State of Tamil Nadu and ruling that it was neither unlawful nor discriminatory. 

In order to protect fishermen's livelihoods, the Supreme Court had previously asked the Tamil Nadu government if a law could be introduced to permit fishermen to continue purse-seine fishing outside the state government-prohibited zone beyond 12 nautical miles.

Before the court, senior attorney Gopal Sankaranarayanan raised two crucial points. He had submitted, "Unless your lordships give interim orders we won't be able to go and fish and the fishing season starts in a month and a half from now. The other aspect is that the Department of Fisheries, Government of India has not imposed any ban on Purse Seine fishing. It has been submitted by them in their short affidavit. They also say that such fishing has not resulted in any environmental problem. So this can be allowed subject to certain conditions."

Sankaranarayanan had further submitted that, "beyond 12 nautical miles, there is admittedly no ban. So atleast the fishing season is starting in a month and half and so we should be allowed to carry on the purse-seine fishing beyond 12 nautical miles so that these fishermen can run their livelihood."

Bench had remarked, "It is only in this state that beyond 12 is not being permitted. Clarify that position to us. At the insertion point itself if you stop them, they will not be able to go even outside 12. What is the mechanism that you see that they don't fish in this 12 but are allowed to go outside of it to fish."

Speaking on behalf of the petitioner, Senior Advocate A Sirajuddeen claimed that the research previously cited was 30 years old and that a new report favouring purse fishing was available as of 2022. Additionally, he said that current oceanic conditions are different. 

Case Title: Fisherman Care vs Govt of Tamil Nadu, Ganasekar & Ors v UOI & Ors and connected matters
Citation: SLP(C) No. 8442/2021 and WP(C) 262 of 2022

Appearance of the advocates:-

Mr. Gopal Sankaranarayanan, Sr. Adv.
Ms. Baby Devi Bonia, Adv.
Ms. Tanya Srivastava, Adv.
Ms. Aditi Gupta, Adv.
Mr. Anshuman Verman, Adv.
Mr. G.D. Verman, Adv.
Mr. Praveen Kumar, Adv.
Mr. Keerthik Vasan, Adv.
Mr. James P. Thomas, AOR

SLP (C)No. 8442/2021
Mr. M.P. Parthiban, AOR
Mr. A.S.Vairawan, Adv.
Mr. R.Sudhakaran, Adv.
Mr. Vikashrajkumar, Adv.
Mr. D.subrahmanya Bhanu, Adv.
Mr. T.hariharasudhan, Adv.
Mr. K. Devendran, Adv.
Mr. D.alagendran, Adv.
Mr. C.R. Jaya Sukin, Adv.
Ms. Baby Devi Bonia, Adv.
Ms. Divya Shukla, Adv.
Mr. Mahimaiantoni Jeyam, Adv.
Ms. Mansa singh, Adv.
M. Pugazhendhi B., Adv.
Ms. Sudha Pal, Adv.
Mr. A. Sirajudeen, Sr. Adv.
Mr. Praveen Kumar, Adv.
Ms. Baby Devi Bonia, Adv.
Ms. Sudha Pal, Adv.
Ms. Manisha Singh, Adv.
Mr. Roshan Chapagain Adv.
Mr. Sathees K., Adv.
Mr. Dharam Pal Saini, Adv.
Mr. Sudhir Singh, Adv.
Mr. K.M. Nataraj, ASG
Mr. Vinayak Sharma, Adv.
Mr. Vatsal Joshi, Adv.
Mr. Chitransh Sharma, Adv.
Mr. Nakul Chengappa K.K., Adv.
Mr. Amrish Kumar, AOR
Mr. Narender Kumar Verma, AOR
Mr. Manoj Swarup, Sr. Adv.
Mr. D.Kumanan, AOR
Mr. Shravan Kumar Yamunar, Adv.
Mrs. Deepa S., Adv.
Mr. Sheikh Fakhruddin Kalia, Adv.
Ms. Rachheta Chawla, Adv.
Ms. Divya Singh, Adv.
Mr. Huzefa A. Ahmadi, Sr. Adv.
Mr. Ejaz Maqbool, AOR
Mr. Sagheer A. Khan, Adv.
Ms. Shahrukh Alam, Adv.

SLP (C)No. 8442/2021
Mr. Rohan Sharma, Adv.
Mr. Saif Zia, Adv.
Mr. Deepak Kumar Singh, Adv.
Mr. Shashank Tripathi, AOR
Mr. Jeewan Kumar, Adv.
Mr. Shravan Kumar Yammanur , AOR