Chief Minister Oommen Chandy said here on Wednesday that the government had not faulted on conduct of the case relating to the killing of fishermen by marines from the Italian ship Enrica Lexie off Kerala coast.
The government’s approach was transparent and the Central government had fully agreed with the stand of the State government in the matter, the Chief Minister told the media after Wednesday’s Cabinet meeting.
Mr. Chandy said that the Kerala government was not opposed to release of the Italian ship subject to conditions. It had wanted assurance from the Italian government regarding appearance of witnesses from the ship for investigation and trial India. The Italian government had agreed to this and application of India laws in the matter.
The Court had directed that the settlements reached by the Italian government with the victims’ families should be ignored, and the Italian government had stated that it was not taking back the compensation paid as an international gesture.
He noted that it was the counsel of Kerala, Gopal Subramanium, who had brought the illegality of the settlements to the notice of the Supreme Court. When the Court asked why Kerala had not filed an appeal, it was projected as news against the government. Kerala had informed the Court that it was filing an appeal.
The only wrong doing in the conduct of the case was the statement of the additional solicitor general Harin Raval before the Court that the killing had taken place in the international waters. Mr. Raval had since said that it was his personal opinion, and the Union Shipping Ministry had clarified that it had not instructed the Additional Solicitor General to make such a statement. Mr. Raval had since been removed from the case and the Attorney General G E Vahanvati had since clarified the matter before the Court.
