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2013 (1) TMI 739 - SUPREME COURTActs of piracy on the high seas - exclusive economic zone - jurisdiction of the State of Kerala and the Circle Inspector of Police, Kollam District, Kerala, to register the F.I.R. and to conduct investigation on the basis thereof or to arrest the petitioner Nos.2 and 3 and to produce them before the Magistrate. - Held that:- while India is entitled both under its Domestic Law and the Public International Law to exercise rights of sovereignty upto 24 nautical miles from the baseline on the basis of which the width of Territorial Waters is measured, it can exercise only sovereign rights within the Exclusive Economic Zone for certain purposes. The incident of firing from the Italian vessel on the Indian shipping vessel having occurred within the Contiguous Zone, the Union of India is entitled to prosecute the two Italian marines under the criminal justice system prevalent in the country. However, the same is subject to the provisions of Article 100 of UNCLOS 1982. I agree with Mr. Salve that the “Declaration on Principles of International Law Concerning Family Relations and Cooperation between States in accordance with the Charter of the United Nations” has to be conducted only at the level of the Federal or Central Government and cannot be the subject matter of a proceeding initiated by a Provincial/State Government. Issue of sovereignty - Held that:- sovereignty is not “given”, but it is only asserted. No doubt, under the Maritime Zones Act, the Parliament expressly asserted sovereignty of this country over the territorial waters but, simultaneously, asserted its authority to determine / alter the limit of the territorial waters. At any rate, the issue is not whether India can and, in fact, has asserted its sovereignty over areas beyond the territorial waters. The issue in the instant case is the authority of the Parliament to extend the laws beyond its territorial waters and the jurisdiction of this Court to examine the legality of such exercise. Even on the facts of Aban Loyd case, it can be noticed that the operation of the Customs Act was extended beyond the territorial waters of India and this Court found it clearly permissible although on the authority conferred by the Maritime Zones Act. The implications of Article 245(2) did not fall for consideration of this Court in that Judgment. The expression “incident of navigation” occurring under Article 97 of the UNCLOS is not a defined expression. Therefore, necessarily the meaning of the expression must be ascertained from the context and scheme of the relevant provisions of the UNCLOS. Article 97 occurs in Part-VII of the UNCLOS, which deals with “HIGH SEAS”. From the language of Article 86 it is made very clear that Part-VII applies only to that part of the sea which is not included in the exclusive economic zone, territorial waters, etc. - Therefore, Article 97 of UNCLOS has no application to the exclusive economic zone, of which the contiguous zone is a part and that is the area relevant, in the context of the incident in question. For that reason, the second submission of Shri Salve should also fail.
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