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Synopsis

A Public Interest Litigation (PIL) has been filed by an Advocate, B. Jagannath in the Madras High Court, seeking directions to the State government to establish an Anti-terrorism squad (ATS) as well as a Quick reaction force (QRF) to combat the possibility of terrorist attacks along the long coastline that Tamil Nadu shares with Sri Lanka.

The plea states that recent developments in Sri Lanka, the rise of the Taliban in Afghanistan, and political instability in Pakistan are causes of great phenomenal concern to all, as we are surrounded by instability—particularly in a scenario where there is a grave possibility of civil war in both Sri Lanka and Pakistan.

The plea also states that the collapse of the semblance of governments in neighboring countries is a serious wake-up call for our country, particularly for the state of Tamil Nadu, which shares a long maritime border with Sri Lanka.

Jagannath, in his plea claims that Sri Lanka's economic crisis could lead to a regrouping of the proscribed Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE). He also states that "radical Jihadi elements" from Pakistan and Afghanistan could also attack India from Sri Lanka.

The plea stated a few reasons for establishing an ATS-QRF as a counter-terrorism measure:

• The Tamil Nadu police's Q Branch-CB CID, which has both intelligence gathering and investigation mandates, primarily cover extremism within the state only in terms of arrest and intelligence gathering.
• The Tamil Nadu Special Division dealing with Radical Islamic terror, LTTE, is only an intelligence gathering wing with no practical powers to implement except with the consent of the State Home Secretary and DGP.
• The minor gap between the two aforementioned wings will undoubtedly and significantly prove costly when dealing with anti-terrorism operations, rapid response scenarios against radical Islamic terror attacks, and the LTTE.
• Coordination between Intelligence/Investigative agencies of the Union government/other states and Union territories is unavoidable due to mobility and border erosion caused by advancements in cyberspace.

The plea also claimed that this was not a "fear-mongering hate petition" filed to defame the State government. Referring to the 2019 Easter bombings in Sri Lanka, he stated that cross-border maritime infiltration of radical terrorists into the country "might become a grim reality, given the influx of a large number of Bangladeshi and Rohingya Muslims settled in Tamil Nadu with a 'radical' mindset."

“We all, citizens and government, have a collective duty, trusteeship, and responsibility to protect our motherland from such threats as LTTE, Radical Islamic Terrorist Acts, especially because we are in a very vulnerable geo-political geographic area where a radical Islamic attack unfiltered from Pakistan and Afghanistan, as well as a homegrown Radical Islamic terrorist threat terrorist threat from Sri Lanka, can occur at any time”, the plea read.

Case Title: B. Jagannath v. The Chief Secretary, Government of Tamil Nadu & Ors.