Mr.Shyam Kumar, I am not a person conversant with legal matters and do not have any personal interest in this matter. Just out of curiosity and you being a man of law I an asking these doubts. It pertains to this Enrica Lexie shooting and collision of MV Prabhu Daya with a fishing boat. In the case of Prabhu Daya as per reports there has been some sort of understanding has been achieved between the relatives of the fishermen who were drowned and the owners of the ship regarding compensation for the bereaved families. Does it mean that the families will get compensation before the case is settled? The ship collided with the boat which is a criminal act and irrespective of the civil aspect where the compensation is settled the criminal proceedings have to be completed. So is it that the compensation will be paid after the settlement of the criminal case? If the compensation is given before hand and in the end the criminal case could not establish that it was Prabhu Daya which had collided with the boat but some other ships which were also in the vicinity, will it not be a case where the owners of the ship was unjustly made to pay compensation. So will the payment of compensation wait till the criminal case against the ship Prabhu Daya is established? The dents on the ship and portions of net are not conclusive proofs. A ship which had preceded Prabhu Daya could have knocked it and drowned. Some portions of the net could have been floating on the sea and when Prabhu Daya came in the same route could have entangled with its propeller. And the dents could have happened sometimes earlier. Were there any paints which was on the boat sticking on the ship? If Prabhu Daya establishes that it was somewhere else at the time of collision as per the electronic monitoring equipments which all ships should have how the ship can be punished? Settling the civil case before the criminal case is not proper. First the crime should be established I think. Now regarding Enrica Lexie. As per the laws you have quoted there cannot be any question about India’s jurisdiction to try the case. Whether the ship was fifty nautical miles from the shore or 250 miles from the shore it is Indian government who should prosecute the case. But here also there are reports of the parties that is the relatives of the killed fishermen and ship’s owners trying to come to an understanding regarding the compensation to be paid to the bereaved family. And I have the same doubts I raised on the affair of MV Prabhu Daya. Here also the the alleged killers have not been yet charged. Investigations are still going on. So I repeat how the compensation can be settled at this stage? The police have taken some guns from the ship some 45 days ago. Still forensic examination is going on. Is it not really scandalous that the police have got the guns suspected to be the ones used for shooting and still could not establish it? Why the police cannot call other experts who are more experienced and competent? Even take help from Scotland Yard or FBI. The guns are yet to be identified. Now if the ship proves from its record that it was some other place at the time of shooting from its electronic data. I think apart from VDR which keeps data of only for 12 hrs at a time there are other electronic navigation equipment which send data of its position, speed and many other things on FM. These data are received by any ship in the vicinity and shore stations which have receiver. If it is proved that the ship was elsewhere the case will have to be closed unsolved. Also it may so happen that the crew of the boat must have got confused about the position and time of shooting. A good defense lawyer will make a mince meat of the illiterate crew. The boat could not have a GPS or the crew would have looked at their watch when the shooting took place. It is not yet time for Kerala government to feel smug. There can be many a slip between the cup and lip. Now you have told the pathetic state of the families of the killed fishermen. Yes I agree. BUT what about the soldiers who get killed by the bullets of terrorists in Kashmir. Do the families of those soldiers get such huge sums the families of these fishermen are demanding? If instead of the fishermen getting shot and killed but their boat capsized do they get all these lakhs? Same case for the fishermen of Prabhu Daya. If their boat has capsized in a storm, what the families will get? These families are demanding money just because the other party is rich enough. What about those hundreds who get killed in accidents and like that? What compensation they get. Don’t those get killed also have their poor families of children siblings? I have sympathy for them. But they are just one among millions and they don’t deserve any special sympathy. The whole thing has got all this publicity because the government of Kerala is playing to the gallery.
In the case of Prabhu Daya as per reports there has been some sort of understanding has been achieved between the relatives of the fishermen who were drowned and the owners of the ship regarding compensation for the bereaved families. Does it mean that the families will get compensation before the case is settled? The ship collided with the boat which is a criminal act and irrespective of the civil aspect where the compensation is settled the criminal proceedings have to be completed. So is it that the compensation will be paid after the settlement of the criminal case? If the compensation is given before hand and in the end the criminal case could not establish that it was Prabhu Daya which had collided with the boat but some other ships which were also in the vicinity, will it not be a case where the owners of the ship was unjustly made to pay compensation. So will the payment of compensation wait till the criminal case against the ship Prabhu Daya is established? The dents on the ship and portions of net are not conclusive proofs. A ship which had preceded Prabhu Daya could have knocked it and drowned. Some portions of the net could have been floating on the sea and when Prabhu Daya came in the same route could have entangled with its propeller. And the dents could have happened sometimes earlier. Were there any paints which was on the boat sticking on the ship? If Prabhu Daya establishes that it was somewhere else at the time of collision as per the electronic monitoring equipments which all ships should have how the ship can be punished? Settling the civil case before the criminal case is not proper. First the crime should be established I think.
Now regarding Enrica Lexie. As per the laws you have quoted there cannot be any question about India’s jurisdiction to try the case. Whether the ship was fifty nautical miles from the shore or 250 miles from the shore it is Indian government who should prosecute the case. But here also there are reports of the parties that is the relatives of the killed fishermen and ship’s owners trying to come to an understanding regarding the compensation to be paid to the bereaved family. And I have the same doubts I raised on the affair of MV Prabhu Daya. Here also the the alleged killers have not been yet charged. Investigations are still going on. So I repeat how the compensation can be settled at this stage? The police have taken some guns from the ship some 45 days ago. Still forensic examination is going on. Is it not really scandalous that the police have got the guns suspected to be the ones used for shooting and still could not establish it? Why the police cannot call other experts who are more experienced and competent? Even take help from Scotland Yard or FBI. The guns are yet to be identified. Now if the ship proves from its record that it was some other place at the time of shooting from its electronic data. I think apart from VDR which keeps data of only for 12 hrs at a time there are other electronic navigation equipment which send data of its position, speed and many other things on FM. These data are received by any ship in the vicinity and shore stations which have receiver. If it is proved that the ship was elsewhere the case will have to be closed unsolved. Also it may so happen that the crew of the boat must have got confused about the position and time of shooting. A good defense lawyer will make a mince meat of the illiterate crew. The boat could not have a GPS or the crew would have looked at their watch when the shooting took place. It is not yet time for Kerala government to feel smug. There can be many a slip between the cup and lip.
Now you have told the pathetic state of the families of the killed fishermen. Yes I agree. BUT what about the soldiers who get killed by the bullets of terrorists in Kashmir. Do the families of those soldiers get such huge sums the families of these fishermen are demanding? If instead of the fishermen getting shot and killed but their boat capsized do they get all these lakhs? Same case for the fishermen of Prabhu Daya. If their boat has capsized in a storm, what the families will get? These families are demanding money just because the other party is rich enough. What about those hundreds who get killed in accidents and like that? What compensation they get. Don’t those get killed also have their poor families of children siblings? I have sympathy for them. But they are just one among millions and they don’t deserve any special sympathy. The whole thing has got all this publicity because the government of Kerala is playing to the gallery.