Kochi: The Kerala High Court has directed the authorities concerned in the state to ensure that there is no overloading on boats.

The directive was issued by a division bench comprising Justices Devan Ramachandran and Sophy Thomas while considering a case filed suo motu by the court following the Tanur boat tragedy.

Meanwhile, the District Collector of Malappuram filed a preliminary report on the mishap before the court. The report said that while the capacity of the capsized boat was 22 passengers, there were 37 persons on board when the accident happened.

Other instructions

The division bench also said that the maximum number of passengers that can be accommodated on the boat should be displayed prominently near the entry and exit areas, cabins and upper and lower decks in English and Malayalam.

A suggestion of the amicus curiae to maintain a register of the details of the passengers should be considered. The court should also be informed of how this suggestion could be implemented.

The driver/lascar/master of the vessel will be responsible for ensuring that overloading does not occur. Whenever the government authorities detect excess passengers, these boat staff will face action.

On the boat, passengers should be allowed entry only in specific areas. Barricades have to be erected to prevent passengers from venturing into other areas, said the court.

Another directive of the court is to extend third-party insurance to all boats.

The court also appointed Advocate Shyam Kumar as amicus curiae.

Referring to the Tanur mishap, the bench observed that it had noticed the cyber-attacks against the court over filing a suo motu case. The bench, however, added that it was not considering these attacks.

The case was filed suo motu based on an instruction from the Acting Chief Justice. Several women and children were among the victims in Tanur and they were trapped inside the drowned boat. The bench wondered which other incident could qualify for a suo motu case. It also said that when a court speaks for the common people, it was not criticizing the government.