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Kerala sees the truth, but slowly
The Kerala Government, which on Monday said in the Supreme Court that it would challenge the compensation agreement signed between Italy and legal heirs of the victims of the oil tanker gunfire, but it was eager to distance itself from that settlement rather than planning to challenge its conditions in the court the day it was signed.
“The fact is that the Kerala Government, led by the Congress, was more interested in washing its hands off the responsibility for the settlement than challenging it on April 24, the day it was signed. They were eager to do so probably because of the possibility of Opposition allegation that there was foul play behind it,” said a senior lawyer of the Kerala High Court.
The Opposition did level this allegation saying that there was a conspiracy involving the Centre, the State Government and certain other elements behind the settlements Italy had reached with the murdered fishermen’s kin. Rumours on the involvement of two Union Ministers and a top priest of the Catholic Church had also been doing the rounds in connection with this.
Immediately after the victims’ relatives and the Italian Government entered into an agreement on compensation based on specific conditions at the Lok Adalat in Kochi, Kerala Advocate General KP Dandapani had responded to it saying it would not affect the criminal case regarding the gunfire and murders in any way.
This position was adopted once again by the State Government on April 27 when Freddy J, owner of the boat on which the fishermen were killed in gunfire from Italian oil tanker Enrica Lexie and the main witness in the murder case, signed a pact for Rs 17 lakh as compensation with the Italian Government, virtually turning hostile by reversing his earlier statements.
When this happened, State Director General of Prosecutions T Asif Ali had explained that the criminal case was going to remain intact despite Freddy’s turning hostile. Here also, the State failed to think about questioning the conditions – which could virtually destroy the case – through an appeal.
Kerala’s legal machinery had committed similar blunder (knowingly or unknowingly?) on April 20 in the Supreme Court with State’s standing counsel MT George adopting stoic silence when Additional solicitor General Harin Raval submitted that Kerala had no locus standi in the Enrica Lexie affair as the shooting had taken place in international waters.
On Monday, State Employment Affairs Minister Shibu Baby John, hailing from Kollam district to where Valentine alias Jelestine, one of the victims of the gunfire belonged to, reiterated the State Government’s oft-repeated stand that no settlement had been reached at with the knowledge of the Government , adding that its concern was mainly with the criminal case.
Counsels of Dora, widow of Jelestine, who had signed a compensation pact with Italy on April 24, said that they had tried for the settlement after the Prosecution had failed in doing anything to address the grievances of the victim’s relatives. They said there was no situation that warranted the return of the compensation amount – Rs 1 crore each – Italy had paid.
The counsel of the two sisters of Ajesh Binku of Kanyakumari, the other victim of the gunfire, said they had gone for the settlement after the High Court itself had agreed to it. The Lok Adalat had given approval for the settlement by which the families of both the victims got Rs 1 crore each as compensation.
The Kerala Government, which on Monday said in the Supreme Court that it would challenge the compensation agreement signed between Italy and legal heirs of the victims of the oil tanker gunfire, but it was eager to distance itself from that settlement rather than planning to challenge its conditions in the court the day it was signed.
“The fact is that the Kerala Government, led by the Congress, was more interested in washing its hands off the responsibility for the settlement than challenging it on April 24, the day it was signed. They were eager to do so probably because of the possibility of Opposition allegation that there was foul play behind it,” said a senior lawyer of the Kerala High Court.
The Opposition did level this allegation saying that there was a conspiracy involving the Centre, the State Government and certain other elements behind the settlements Italy had reached with the murdered fishermen’s kin. Rumours on the involvement of two Union Ministers and a top priest of the Catholic Church had also been doing the rounds in connection with this.
Immediately after the victims’ relatives and the Italian Government entered into an agreement on compensation based on specific conditions at the Lok Adalat in Kochi, Kerala Advocate General KP Dandapani had responded to it saying it would not affect the criminal case regarding the gunfire and murders in any way.
This position was adopted once again by the State Government on April 27 when Freddy J, owner of the boat on which the fishermen were killed in gunfire from Italian oil tanker Enrica Lexie and the main witness in the murder case, signed a pact for Rs 17 lakh as compensation with the Italian Government, virtually turning hostile by reversing his earlier statements.
When this happened, State Director General of Prosecutions T Asif Ali had explained that the criminal case was going to remain intact despite Freddy’s turning hostile. Here also, the State failed to think about questioning the conditions – which could virtually destroy the case – through an appeal.
Kerala’s legal machinery had committed similar blunder (knowingly or unknowingly?) on April 20 in the Supreme Court with State’s standing counsel MT George adopting stoic silence when Additional solicitor General Harin Raval submitted that Kerala had no locus standi in the Enrica Lexie affair as the shooting had taken place in international waters.
On Monday, State Employment Affairs Minister Shibu Baby John, hailing from Kollam district to where Valentine alias Jelestine, one of the victims of the gunfire belonged to, reiterated the State Government’s oft-repeated stand that no settlement had been reached at with the knowledge of the Government , adding that its concern was mainly with the criminal case.
Counsels of Dora, widow of Jelestine, who had signed a compensation pact with Italy on April 24, said that they had tried for the settlement after the Prosecution had failed in doing anything to address the grievances of the victim’s relatives. They said there was no situation that warranted the return of the compensation amount – Rs 1 crore each – Italy had paid.
The counsel of the two sisters of Ajesh Binku of Kanyakumari, the other victim of the gunfire, said they had gone for the settlement after the High Court itself had agreed to it. The Lok Adalat had given approval for the settlement by which the families of both the victims got Rs 1 crore each as compensation.
