Radio Collar for the Italian Marines

I am wondering. Why Government of India or Government of Kerala  did not suggest to High Court to instruct the concerned persons to put Radio Collar on the two Italian Marines who are being released on bail with all precautions that they don't escape from India. Now they have been asked to stay within the jurisdiction of the Police Commissioner of Kochi and to get two Indians to stand surety for them and also the wonderful condition that the sureties should not put their foot outside Kerala. Radio Collars would have solved all these conditions. The P.C sitting in front of his PC could monitor every movement of these two ruthless killers who killed two innocent Indians probably just for target practice. We don't know whether racism was also involved. After all they are from Italy whose Mussolini was the fellow traveler of Hitler who was an acknowledged racist. We are all aware that Whites look down at all those with black or brown skins. Putting radio collar on people who may escape is not new. Only a couple of years back America put radio collar on the ankles of poor Indian students whose only crime was that they got into US on the ostentatious purposes of  studying in an American Campus of a University of the Gults. If America can do such a thing we can do definitely. We all know that while India that is Bharat is a rising Sun, America is a setting Sun and a pitch dark future awaits it. We are just behind America by a nose length and that too not a De'Gaullian nose at that. A Chou en Lai-ian nose. So we should put a radio collar on those white Italians who consider all Indians are not worth anything but two bullets.
Apart from the radio collar which should be more or less in the way of the collars worn by those with spondilitis ( so that it is very much visible and every patriotic Indians  can boo them) whether they should have to slate like board hanging in front and back with the letters "Italian @#$%. Boo Them" written on them. That way they and all Italians even those parading as Indians will know that we hold little respect to them. In fact we hate them. It is high time that the whole world recognize our position in the world and give due to respect to us. We will demand respect or take it by force. Our constitution will be amended that we can demand respect from anyone. We are waiting for the two third majority. As soon as the oil prices come down we will do it.

God's Safari

This question is as tough as the question Akbar asked Birbal--How many crows are there in Delhi? This is a tradition which has been followed for centuries. But is it necessary? Even if all the temples and other abodes of Gods are destroyed there will not be any PIL or rather GIL from the part of Gods. They will take it easy in their stride. In Kerala after the agrarian reforms the daily ration of food for so many Gods got reduced considerably. From so many 'paras' ( a volume measure used in Kerala for measuring paddy, rice etc and equivalent to some 10kg by weight) to just subsistence ration they did not protest. No calamities came except the EMS ministry was pulled down by vested interests where Gods were not a party. Only Gods  keepers were. So if this mode of transport to which Gods are accustomed to is withdrawn also there will not be any protests from their part. But the public may not take it lying down.

Bail to Italian Marines

And at last. High Court did the correct thing to grant them bail. The argument raised by the counsel for Kerala was childish or inane. When the passports of the marines are surrendered and the Italian Government was standing surety for their presence during trial was most idiotic objection. There is a news in Manorama on line that Kerala is going to oppose the bail application and that only it will ask the court to put stringent conditions while granting bail. Also the report says 'Government is "happy" to drop the SUA Act charges'. It is a mystery why the Government of Kerala should be so condescending to be happy to drop SUA Act charges? It simply indicates that SUA Act will not stand in a court and Government will look utterly foolish to prefer charges on that count. It will be like the pronouncement that this shooting was a terrorist action. It looks that Kerala Government is loosing steam slowly. Who knows in six months time the government will be happy to see that this case is settled somehow or other.

Enrica Lexie -Contentious issue of jurisdiction

High Court of Kerala has rejected the Italian Government's plea that Indian courts has no jurisdiction to try the case as the incident happened in waters beyond India territorial waters. High Court also observed that the killing of the fishermen were cruel and brutal and that the marines do not enjoy any sovereignty and they have acted on their own.
However impartial and just our courts may be, this issue of jurisdiction should be settled by an international body than a court of either of the country. In the case of Jayalalitha the case was shifted to Karnataka so that the trial and judgement will be independent. Similarly in case of the case of massacre of innocent Muslims the case was shifted to Maharashtra. Since here this case is between two nations viz. India and Italy this issue of jurisdiction should be settled by a third country acceptable to both the countries or by a UN recognized international body.
In this case of jurisdiction is the question of whether the killing of the fishermen was brutal or cruel is, in my layman's mind , of any relevance. Here it is only the question of jurisdiction.
As regards the sovereign immunity of the marines, they should have whatever rights they have on duty this time also they should have. They were put on the ship by the Government of Italy for the protection of the ship. Whatever acts they do is as the soldiers assigned to perform their duties. Whether they were on a naval ship or merchant ship is immaterial. The question who are they and whether they are on duty. If they were on a holiday the cannot have any immunity as then they are ordinary citizen.
I have not seen the whole judgment and written this only seeing the newspaper report.

Enrica Lexie-Jurisdiction

Section 3 of IPC reads : Sec. 3: Punishment for offences committed beyond but which by law may be tried within India:Any person liable by any Indian law to be tried for an offence committed beyond India shall be dealt with according to the provisions of this Code for any act committed beyond India in the same manner as if such act had been committed within India.What the sentence 'any person liable by any India law to be tried within India'. Does it not mean that this section is applicable to anyone bound by Indian laws? If such a person commits a crime beyond India's land boundary to be tried............... It is not applicable to anyone who is not bound by Indian laws. Italian marines are not bound by Indian laws. Italian Marines committed a crime in an Italian flagged ship which is as good as committing a crime in Italian soil. It is a wonder how this is interpreted as a crime to be tried in Indian courts.
I could not get any attributes in IPC that it applies to all. The law as given in IPC is applicable to only those who are bound by Indian laws. 
 When a foreign citizen is in India then it will apply to him also as the local law should apply to all.
In this case the Marines were not in Indian soil or something equivalent to Indian soil. So the Indian law cannot be applied to them. Or it seems to me.

Bail for Italian Marines

The argument that if released the marines will not be available is, to say the least, stupid. Italian government, that is a sovereign government is standing surety that they will be produced for trials. Italy is not a 'banana republic'. It is country of the European Union. As a mature nation India has to give credence when a nation take the responsibility for the marines. There were reports that the marines had told that they will surrender their passports. Just imagine, can two foreigners without any passport but with a fake passport  with no visa stamped can escape from India. Even when a common man goes to a foreign country the police man looks at the passport some ten times then your face once again the photo in passport and all. A relation of mine who was a US citizen was going back to US on the last day of the expiry of the Indian visa. He told me that the police man counted some ten times the number of days he has stayed in India to see whether he has over stayed. In such case how these two will be able to get out of India? And if say in a once in trillion or quadrillion case they escape can't be tried in absentia and punished ?. In these cases what is more important is punishing for the crime committed and not whether they stayed in jail or not. Objecting the bail is stupid and is just playing to the gallery.

Petrol Price Increase

Hai Mr.Malik. Here is one comment I wrote two days back. I shall follow it in next with one more as here 'time is out'.Guptan Veemboor (Bangalore) All are crying that increase in petrol price is burden to the 'common man' or it's Hindi equivalent 'aam aadmi'. The problem is with the definition of the term 'common man'. One Mr.Sachin has commented to my query 'who is a common man' the definition that 'the common man is one to whom one party says "our hand is with you" and then slap him with hand . That is common man.'. I liked that definition. It is quite witty. But that is a very broad definition. My definition is it is the people who travel in the 'cattle class'. It is not the cattle class Mr.Shashi Taroor has mentioned. It is those who travel by the dusty, dirty stuffy and overcrowded 2nd class unreserved compartments of our railways or those hanging precariously on the footboards of our city buses or hanging perilously with a finger to the window bars of a suburban train or those who have never traveled and lived all their life in the arid villages in utter poverty that they have a good meal once in a week or those who commit suicide due to debt or poverty. I cannot think that these people will be affected if the price of petrol goes sky high. In fact their indirect burden of paying tax (indirectly) to the government when they buy their meager provisions and other essentials. It is those 'little grains of sand and little drops of water' which subsidize the petrol filled in BMWs and Merces and all other four wheelers and two wheelers. This agitation is an agitation of the haves and not of the have-nots. The champions of the poor Left and their virulent opponent but avowedly pro poor Mamata also doing. Petrol price should be made such that it can live its own life without subsidies. I am a loner in this.
Hai Mr.Malik, Guptan Veemboor (Bangalore) In my opinion the real problem is lack of public transport in our cities. Had there been a very good public transport system middle class will not be depending on their own personal transport. And an increase in petrol price will not affect them as it is doing now. I have heard that in Singapore or London public transport is so good that one need not have a private vehicle at all. Lack of efficient public transport has made people to buy cars and two wheelers. Since these mode of transport occupy more road space per person roads become congested. When road become congested even if number of public transport vehicles increase due to traffic jams due to congestion on the roads, one cannot depend on the public transport. Then one feels that a car can take him or her faster to the destination and contribute to further congestion. It is a vicious circle and the problem compounds. Governments liberilisation has made this situation. Right from the beginning more stress should have been on mass transport system. Even pollution level would not have been this much. I would suggest that the remedy as of now will be restrict private vehicle movement in central areas ( or in American parlance down town area). In London central London is restricted for private vehicles I think. There was a news recently that our embassy in London has due of few million pound as fine for taking its vehicles in central London. That should be implemented in our cities and simultaneously increase public transport system. Only buses and taxis should ply in central area and for private vehicles put punitive toll. Like petrol diesel also should be de-controlled and trucks carrying food grain from FCI godowns to PDS godowns cash subsidy can be given depending on the distance they have run on government job. For all private running they also should pay market price. Needless to say diesel for cars and other personal vehicles they should pay market price.
Mr.Malik, I have sent two posts and this is the last word. Will the auto manufacturers allow the government to increase public transport system as their profit will nose dive. Who knows this agitation against petrol price increase has not tacit support from them? There were rumours that in Singur agitation there were rival business interest also involved. Already they slashed Rs50,000/-. Is it not an indication that they are getting panicky? With best regards, Guptan

Braggarts we are

Long back I have read a novel by Arthur Hailey titled 'In High Places'. There a stowaway was caught in a Candian Airline and a case is going on. The case get embroiled in the Candian politics and it is the hapless stowaway who suffers. Much worse than what he had undergone in sub-zero temperature outside the aircraft up high in air. I am not straight away comparing the two Italian Marines with the hapless stowaway. But there is good comparison between the two incidents. One imaginary and other real. The main stumbling block which deters the release of Marines on bail is the politics in Kerala. Unfortunately the shooting incident when the UDF the ruling coalition with Congress as the major partner and LDF the opposition which missed the bus by just four seats or so. And a by-election was due to take place. Any leniency towards the Italian Marines would have taken up by the opposition party and highlight that UDF was apathetic to the killed poor fishermen. And any thing connected with Italy is anathema for Left and Right. Mrs.Sonia Gandhi whose legs are the repository for all the blames for the performance of UPA-r is by birth Italian though by domicile Indian very much. So no leniency can be shown to Italians including normal decent behaviour. Also Indians suffer from a delusion that since British ruled India all British and all whites are our enemies. So we should  take each and every opportunity to harass them. When Ruling UDF gocernment sailed through Piravom by election with flying colours here comes another at Neyyattinkara. So UDF is in the same spot as before. No leniency. Hence when the bail application of the marines came the government lawyer said that if they are released they could tamper with evidences and impede the progress of the case. All the evidences are in police custody. The Italian Marines know hardly any English even and their Malayalam is limited to two words. Kothu for mosquitoes and eli for rat. The two constant companions in their incarceration. In what way they can impede the progress of the case or how they can tamper the evidence is not the relevant thing. The bail was rejected. In all probability the court must have played it safe. In such high profile case where the Prime Minister of another nation is talking to Indian PM and all it is better to pass the buck to higher ups to take appropriate decision. And so like the stowaway the Italian Marines are continuing their residence as guests of Kerala Government in the company of 'Kothus' and 'Elis' for constant companions. We are behaving like braggart. We can hardly do anything to our men in the hands of pirates or foreign governments but show all courage to the two marines who were tricked to come to Cochin and get caught. If the ship Enrica Lexie had sailed off without committing this blunder of coming to Cochin they would have been back in business as usual. Now all are gleefully running around the marines who have been caught.

Enrica Lexie post to Capt. Tom

Hello Captain, This is just my random thoughts. I am wondering if it had been so that the poor fishermen who were killed were really some Somalian pirates would there have been so much out cry? Will there be any question why the protocol to avoid piracy was not followed? Whether warning shots were fired or water hoses used? In my opinion there would have been no such questions. Probably the two Italian Marines would have been congratulated for two of the outlaws. But unfortunately the calculation  of the Marines went wrong. Even when two pirates are killed it is loss of two lives. Same as that of two fishermen. Do anyone think what made them pirates. As a navy man you will hate. I know. But it is the worst economic condition that has driven these desperadoes to piracy. Let me repeat you will not be able to stomach this view because you are directly affected. Here I sitting in Bangalore can express the opinion as it will not in no way affect me. I hope you get me. So the actual crime the marines have done they made a very serious mistake in thinking the fishermen were pirates. There also let me give some opinion of mine. The general attitude of people of the category of these fishermen the headload workers and such are arrogance. They hate anyone with some money. To them a big ship represents money and their psyche is that to hurt and annoy. Here the owner of the boat when he got a nice compensation ( and most probably with some liquor he must have consumed to celebrate the occasion )has told that the boat was being driven by one of the killed fishermen and he did not have any license to drive it. He also told that the boat was being driven very fast towards the ship. In all probability the driver must have been drunk and thought that he can cross the path of the ship before it reached the point. Such a behaviour can naturally evoke suspicion in the minds of the guards I feel.That must have prompted them to fire. And another thing about the location. The incident occurred at about 4 pm. After that the boat reached Neendakara at about 10 pm. It took 6 hours for the boat to reach the shore. Naturally with two dead bodies in the boat it should have gone at top speed. At say 8 knots speed in 6 hrs it must have traveled some 50 nautical miles.  Even if the spot was not straight perpendicular to Neendakara it should have been some 40 nautical miles from the shore which is out of contiguous zone and in EEZ. And the question is whether EEZ is international zone or the country's zone. These things should be cleared before proceeding with the case. I feel before clearing these issues going ahead with the trial is not proper. This is just my opinion. You may be holding your own. After all everyone will have their opinions on anything. We have a saying in Malayalam. Even if someone beats his own mother there will two opinions. Like that.

Enrica Lexie- NDTV posts

Mr.Joseph Kurumkulathil. If we can bargain for the imprisonment of Anand Jon or Vikram Buddhi with the conviction of the two Italians then we gain something out of this pursuing of the case. I don't agree with the concept that someone else is doing something wrong and so we too should do like that. Incidentally I am for releasing Kasab if we can get Sarbajit released. We save the life of Sarbajit and by killing Kasab we don't gain anything other than the macabre satisfaction that justice has been done. The shooting of the fishermen was done by mistake. I agree they should have been more careful when shooting someone. But just by convicting them do we get anything other than mental satisfaction while we loose relation with another country. And whatever is said and done the families were well compensated with what the fishermen could have hoped to give them. I am not pricing the life lost. Only from the practical point of view. If Italy had not given that money how much do you expect the poor families to get? They got five lakhs from the government of Kerala and nothing much they can expect. I may look callous when I put a price on life. I am telling a fact. If the fishermen had died in a boat mishap in mid sea what they would have got? In some ways the concept of sharia to pay blood money is more apt than punishing on the principle of 'an eye for an eye'. And what compensation the poor get when police fire at crowds for one reason or other. Has not many fishermen died due to police firing. Has any policemen punished for those acts? Did the government pay any compensation to the victims? What has happened to the Adivasis of Muthanga? Here it happened to be two whites and the whole Kerala are up in arms. It is nothing but hypocrisy.

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Joseph Kurumkulathil16 hours ago

Forget killing, Anand Jon is in a US jail based on a questionable conviction and we cannot even consider our PM bringing this up in any mutual dialogue. Another Indian, Vikram Buddhi, is in jail for allegedly sending hate mails and he was released and jailed with impunity for not having a visa which was confiscated by the same authorities that jailed him for not having it. The Italian Marines will soon be released. Our sympathies should be with the families of the Indian citizens they killed. They would pardon them now that amounts they could only dream of have been exchanged. But that amount should be as pardon from the death penalty and not as pardon to be released. An Indian committing a similar offence in the western world would have a lifetime of jail ahead of him. Or maybe only 59 years like Anand Jon. The Guptan Vemboor's of this world need to get an analysis of their conscience.

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Guptan Veemboor22 hours ago

Mr.Soman. I am not telling that there should not be a proper trial. There should be. But need not make this much hype on this case. This is not the first time so many innocents have died. There is nothing special. Why bail could not be given on some silly reasons? Not only in this case. Our jails are full of undertrials whose crime in many cases is so petty that they spent more time in jail as undertrials than they would have been convicted for the crime they are accused with. It is very cruel thing. In this case let them be released on bail if Italian Government takes responsibility. And before proceeding with the case first let the case of jurisdiction be settled. Which country is suppose to take action. Just telling it is we who should try the offenders is not enough. Let a court conclusively pronounce it. I know I am not talking like the ones who have been commenting. And I have told whatever is right to my conscience. Just because I am an Indian I will not side with whatever India do if it is against my conscience.

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Dijit Soman1 day ago

Dear Mr. Guptan, This is seriously not a common shooting case, here two poor fishermen have died for no reason. It is very disheartning to know that ppl like you claim to be Indians and not care about your fellow country men. They should be tried in a fair way based on international laws. Thats true do we have single neighbour who is riendly with us??...that is what we all care about,,,others,,,not us!!!!!!!

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Guptan Veemboor1 day ago

This is not just a common shooting case where some rowdies have shot and killed two persons. Here nationals of two countries are involved. At least now for the sake of not spoiling relation between India and Italy it will be better the two Marines are released on bail on guarantee by the Italian Government that they will be produced for trial. When a government of a country take responsibility to produce the accused for trial, not to release them on bail on some silly reasons is ridiculous. Mean while the dispute which country should try the marines should be settled. India and the public in Kerala are behaving like a braggart. Indian psyche itself is that of a braggart. Do we have a single neighbour who is friendly with us?

Veeresh Malik's Manual scavenging and Cartoon.

Hello Mr.Malik, we met on  board Enrica  Lexie and have been meeting on and off on these columns. To be frank, my English seems to be too poor and I find it difficult to understand you. I could not get any connection between the hapless night-soil careers and the cartoon Shankar Pillai had drawn some sixty odd years back in the prestigious ( you will not agree with it being prestigious) cartoon weekly of that time. I had not seen the cartoon then as our village library got only Malayalam news papers and magazines and I generally hurried from my college as soon as the classes were over back home. Only when I left my village for Bombay and later to other places I started to see the magazine and then I liked it much even though I am far from a 'sahib' but enjoyed a bit of fun when Shankar laughed at politicians. Even now I look at all cartoons. My favourite used to be Lakshman. Abu I could not understand much. Vijayan I liked. And like that many more. I would say Shankar's Weekly was to India what was Punch to England. I do no agree with your contention that it was the weekly for 'sahibs and memsahibs'. It was for any one with a liking for humour and laughter. Do you say that P.G.Wodehouse is  only for upper echelons of the literate people. I differ with you sir.
I have not seen the cartoon when it was published. Only now when Hindu news paper reproduced it I happen to see it. Have you looked at carefully? Is Nehru aiming his whip at the back of Ambedkar who is sitting on the snail? To me it looks that Nehru who is slightly bent forward is aiming his whip at the snail and not at Ambedkar. Ambedkar is riding the snail with a whip in his hand but looks as if he is having no intention of whipping the snail. On the snail it is written constitution. What I made out was that the work on constitution was not moving fast to the satisfaction of Nehru who was getting impatient. Seeing that Ambedkar was not urging the persons entrusted with drafting the constitution Nehru himself was urging them. There is absolutely anything which is derogatory at all. If at all it is laughing at Nehru's impatience in getting works done. The present day MPs have absolutely no sense of humour or capacity to understand when someone pokes fun at.
And why this nightsoil bearers? Long back in late fifties while I was in Ajmer I have seen those poor hapless ladies carrying night-soil on their head. Afterwards I have never seen it. I don't know how you came across the girl whose parents were night-soil bearers here in Bangalore. Was she telling of her past or of presents time? And you imply that  the system of carrying night soil on head is still existing, and question is how many are still doing. I have been in many cities after fifty eight. Bombay, Ajmer, Jaipur, Delhi and so on. Other than in Ajmer in the late fifties I have not seen any scavenger carrying night soil on head. For the last nineteen years I am here in Bangalore and have not seen any night soil careers. I don't know in which area of Bangalore you met that girl?

The Greatest Cartoon Show on Earth

I wonder how many have seen the cartoon Shankar had drawn some sixty years back. It was reproduced in Hindu news paper. There one can see Ambedkar sitting on a snail with constitution written on it's shell. Ambedkar sits on the snail with a whip. The whip is held as if he has no intention of using it on the snail. Behind Ambedkar and his carrier the snail Nehru is standing bent forward with the whip raised and it looks very much he is aiming the whip at the snail. Nehru is not aiming at Ambedkar. He wants the constitution or rather the committee writing the constitution to go faster. Probably he is not satisfied about the speed with which the committee is preparing the constitution and thinks that Ambedkar is not urging the people to finish it. In no way it is derogatory to Ambedkar. In fact it shows Nehru's impatience only. Shankar's weekly was one the foremost cartoon weekly of that time. It was our equivalent of Punch of England. Shankar Pillai was a close friend of Nehru and would he would have enjoyed the cartoon like anyone else. To bring it up at this time shows utter ignorance of the present day MPs and others who went on vandalizing the offices of NCERT officials. This came in NCERT text book in 2006 and nobody has objected. Why all of a sudden now. And to start cleansing of all text books by these intolerant fanatics is most foolish. If scholars have to have their books vetted by these morons why they should bother to write at all. Let these morons write as well. What is the difference between fanatical Taliban and these people? This is an imaginary insult to the Scheduled Caste icon Ambedkar. Now if censoring starts every religionists also will chip in. Some passage they will say affects Hindu sentiments. Another will say something else affects Muslim sentiments, or Sikh sentiments or Christian sentiments. There will be no end to this. We are celebrating the 60th anniversary of our Parliament with this 'Greatest Cartoon Show of Earth'. Indian news in world media will be put along with humour by news papers and other media of the world. We are the laughing stock of the whole outside world.

Enrica Lexie

It is not right to say that Italy has toned down its stand on sovereignty stand. That issue is still under SC and SC has clarified that this judgement has no bearing on any other issues under its consideration. If it is decided by Supreme Court that India has right to try this case then the marines will be produced as required before the court. If the decision is otherwise that question does not arise. As per PTI reported in Hindu "“In view of the clear position taken by the Kerala government that [the] vessel was not [the] object of [the] crime, nor [do the] circumstances create suspicion of offence by the vessel, the seizure of [the] vessel cannot legally stand." That means the holding of the ship by Kerala Government was illegal. Should not Kerala Government be pulled up for that? After the instant Kerala Government told the owners of Enrica Lexie that it is free to go once they give assurance of the presence of all on board including the Marines and assurance to the production of ship as and when required the responsibility of Kerala Government for keeping the vessel ceases. But from reports it looks that the Government was worried about tampering of any evidence. In fact as soon as the police went aboard and searched for evidences the ship could have been released. But Kerala Government was playing to the gallery for the sake of the by-election and was afraid of opposition taking the issue to malign it.

Ramayana and the Voyage of Enrica Lexie

Ramayana and tumultuous voyage of Enrica Lexie. There is a good similarity between our sacred epic Ramayana and this episode of the Italian ship Enrica Lexie. My patriotic fellow citizens need not jump to the conclusion that then Ravana has to be the two Italian Marines. Far from it. It is the Government of Kerala who  abducted our modern Sita the charming Enrica Lexie. Like Lakshmana disfigured Ravana's sister Shoorpanakha, the two marines killed the two Kerala fishermen. Like Ravana tricked Sita to come out of the boundary Lakshman Rekha drawn by Lakshman, Kerala Government tricked the ship Enrica Lexie our Sita to come to Kochi port. Like Rama or Sita had no part in the vile act of Lakshman disfiguring Shoorpanakha, neither the Dolphin Tankers , who is our Rama nor Enrica Lexie Sita had any part in the shooting of fishermen by the Marines. But like Sita was put under Ashoka tree, Enrica Lexie was forced to berth in Kochi port. It is bit complicated logic. Those interested are advised to read this few more times to understand it. Yours Bin Tuglaq

Last Voyage of Enrica Lexie OR Once Bitten Twice Shy

The Last Voyage of Enrica Lexie.  OR  Once Bitten Twice Shy.
It is sure that Dolphin Tankers will think twice before sending any of their merchant ships to the Arabian Sea.  Any ship entering from Red sea has law on port side and outlaw on starboard side. It is always better for any ship to avoid both. The difference between law and outlaw is only in the apparel. While law is attired in uniform the outlaws are uniformly attired just in an underwear.  Once you get into the clutches of either your fate is more or less sealed. Unless you pay ransom there is no way of escape. When outlaws demand ransom bluntly law demand it in words couched in legal jargon.  Of course if in the captivity of outlaws one can at least dream of US Marines landing  where ever you are and rescuing you. But if in the clutches of other no such hopes.  Only hope is paying up the ransom which is normally equal to the cost of the ship. That is you buy your own ship from the law. In short you will be sailing between Schylla and Charribdis.
Considering all these it was decided to take the age old route via Cape of Good Hope when one want to go from Europe to far east. After all Vasco De Gama and many illustrious people have taken that route. Even Saint Thomas.

Mohammad and the Mountain

Supreme Court in its order has asked the Italian Government and the owners of the ship Enrica Lexie that the crew, Marines and the ship should be brought to the presence of legal authorities if asked. As far as the human beings it is alright. In fairness the prosecution should pay the airfare to them to come from Italy to Kochi. Why the ship? What purpose it will serve. It is a mute inanimate object which cannot speak anything on the witness stand. The relevant areas should have been photographed and those photographs can presented during trial. If a murder happens in a building, is the owner of the building asked to bring the building to the court for trial? Just because the ship can move is it proper to ask its owners to bring the ship to the legal authorities for the trial? If an elephant gores to death someone during the trial is the elephant asked to take stand in witness stand? In fact the elephant is a murderer. The ship is just the place from which the shots were fired or rather alleged to have been fired and it plays no other role. Probably that clause of asking the ship owner to bring the ship is just the usual legal jargon to absolve any responsibility in case a dispute arises. Incidentally I would have liked to see an elephant  on the witness stand. Recently an elephant ran amuck in Thrissur during the Pooram festival. It injured some sixty odd people. I hope the police will file a case against the elephant and arrest it. Also it should be brought to court for trial and take stand in the witness stand after taking oaths and what not.

Enrica Lexie- Some basic doubts

Mr.Veeresh Malik, I am writing this just for the sake of discussing this case from an independent position. Like a man from Mars looking at it.

You said that the boat was Indian and persons killed were Indians and so India has full right to try the Italian Marines as per Indian laws. Now let me ask you one doubt. First let us assume the geographical position is beyond the 200 nautical limits and hence it is undoubtedly international waters. There are two ships. Ship A from country A and ship B from country B. Someone from ship A shoots at ship B and kills a citizen of country B. Reason for shooting is not relevant for my hypothetical case. In mid sea cases we assume that Ship is a floating piece of country A and ship B is a floating piece of Country B. Which country should try the case. It is a citizen of B on the territory of country B who has been killed. So is it country B which should try the case? Now take another hypothetical case. Let us assume that a soldier posted at India- Pakistan border see someone moving suspiciously in the Pakistan side. Suspecting him to be a terrorist trying to infiltrate he shoots and kills him. Whether the soldier challenged him or such things are not relevant to this hypothetical situation. Who should try the case? India or Pakistan? It is a Pakistani citizen who was killed in Pakistani soil. So is it not Pakistan which should try the case? Will that soldier handed over to Pakistan for trial?
So is there not merit in this Enrica Lexie case when Italy says that the shooting happened in international waters and hence it is Italy which should try the case? So first the exact location of the incident should be ascertained. If it was within 12 nautical miles there is no ambiguity. The problem is if it was in the Contiguous Zone or EEZ. So in my opinion is Supreme Court should first call for records to establish the place of incidence. And then decide as per the United Nations Maritime Laws to which India is also a party.
I have an idea to find how far the place of shooting from the shore if the time of incidence is clearly known. The boat St.Antony reached the police station on shore well past night 10 o'clock. The exact time is available. The boat should have come at maximum speed it can as there were two dead bodies in it and the owner will be in a hurry to report the case.  If the incidence has taken at 4 pm and it reached say 10 pm it has taken 6 hrs. So at a speed of 9 knots it should have covered a distance of 54 nautical miles. Leaving margin to any error due to the fact that the place of incidence need not be perpendicular to the spot where the boat landed on shore it can be safely assumed to have happened some 40 nautical miles off the Indian shore. Or am I wrong?
All these are for the sake of argument.       Yours,   Guptan Veemboor

Reply to Veeresh Malik

Mr.Malik, I am not going into the aspect of which country has authority to take action against the wrong doers. The maritime laws are a bit loose and not water tight as that of the land. What I want to stress is that it is the primary responsibility of Kerala Police to take action against perpetrators of the crime. For example if the data on the VDR has not been preserved it is the responsibility of the captain of the ship. So too if any other relevant data has been tampered with. Why then the captain was not taken into custody. The Marines may not be under his control but the data and all materials is under his control and he is responsible. If the police was suspecting any tampering with relevant evidence he should have been arrested. What I tell is not to give an impression that the Marines are guilty. For that the jurisdiction of courts should first be settled. I am telling of the situation of the on going investigation assuming, I repeat assuming, India has authority to prosecute. It looks to me the prosecution is not sure of in which way to go ahead. That is why they are thinking of taking up SUA Act. Now there is another trouble for prosecution. The boat owner Freddy when he got 17 lakhs forgot everything and made some statements which is very damaging for prosecution. I feel prosecution will not dare to put him on stand as on cross examination the defense council make a mincemeat of him. So SUA Act will be more safe. Nice to  correspond with you. Guptan Veemboor

Heady Freddy

There was a news that Freddy, when he got the unexpected bonanza of 17 lakhs was so excited that he told that the boat was driven by Valentine Jelastine who did not have any license to drive a boat. Also that the ship was flashing lights and shooting in air but Valentine went at full speed towards the ship. ( Probably he thought that he can cross the path before the ship reached the spot.More or less like a foolhardy driver tries to cross a level crossing before a train comes.) But when the whole world was accusing him and families for accepting tainted money he back tracked and stuck to his earlier statement given to the police of the hail of bullets from the ship and of absence of any warning from the ship. Probably better counsel prevailed or the counsel he had engaged for putting his demand for compensation advised him not to talk like that.

The great Epic of Enrica Lexie- Part 1

Curtains are down on Part 1 of the epic Voyages of the Italian Ship Enrica Lexie. The apex court has given a very good judgement. The bond money of 3 crore is fine. And also the instructions to the crew and ship's owner that crew should be available if necessary and the ship should be made available for any inspection is also very just. I wonder why the Honourable court is so obsessed with the payment of one crore each to the families of the killed fishermen. After all they are poor people and their lone earning members have been killed. This payment cannot have any effect on the criminal case against the two Marines as they are not a part of it. It is only a criminal case of State of Kerala v/s Two Italian Marines. This payment cannot subvert the process of justice in any way. On the other hand it will help the poor families to make a decent living in spite of the fact their sole earning members are no more. This payment should be ignored totally.  But there is the other matter lying with the court. Is Indian Government authorised to take up this case or not. That decision also is urgent as Italy is contesting it. It will be good if the Italian Marines are charged as then they can apply for bail. They can be given conditional bail as they are not a danger to the society as such and cannot influence the case. Meanwhile the question of which country should take up the case can be settled.

Enrica Lexie--reply to Veeresh Malik

You being an ex-merchant navy man I have no right to ask about the maritime matters. What I am telling is just general thing. The case is criminal case. It is State of Kerala versus Two Italian Marines who are accused of killing two Indian nationals. It is a murder case and individuals have no locus standi as far as the criminal case is involved. The families or dependents have a say on the quantum of compensation only which is a civil matter. This civil matter is also settled along with the criminal case when the guilty is punished as the judge will decide the quantum of compensation to be paid to the dependents of the victim. Whether the families of the victims take money from the people of the accused cannot alter the course of criminal case at all. In this case they are not witnesses even so that they may turn hostile. The incident happened mid-sea miles away from where the families were staying. So all this noise that Italian Government is bribing the families or trying to keep their mouth shut is meaningless. Even after this payment the court can decide when the final judgement is made the quantum of compensation to be paid irrespective of what the families got earlier from Italian Government. The families had submitted application in the court that the ship should not be released before their compensation was settled. Now as they are satisfied with the compensation they have no objection for the ship to be released. They have not told anything of releasing the Marines. Even if they say they should be released it has no meaning and significance in the case. The owner of the boat Freddy also has told of not to release the ship till he got compensation for the damages to his boat. He got it and as far as he  also is concerned the ship need not be held. There also there is no question of releasing the Marines was told. So the case  of killing will go as it should be without any hindrance. And all the requests from the families and the owner Freddy had gone through courts and it was all done with courts approval. There is no substance in blaming the families or Freddy. And I think the shortcomings you have pointed out as that of Director General of Shipping is really that of the Kerala Police which is doing the investigations. It is their responsibility to check the relevant records and call the concerned witnesses. The have their technical team also to check the relevant data.

Skewed Logic-Enrica Lexie

What is the logic behind asking the Italian Government that the ship Enrica Lexie can be released only if the Italian Government can guarantee the presence of the other four marines on board the ship? If the ship is detained in the absence of such a guarantee it is the owners of the ship who suffers. The marines are not private guards employed by the ship's owners and they are directly under the Italian Government. The owners of the ship has no part in the whole affair except that it so happened the marines when the did the alleged shooting was on board the ship. Using a reverse logic, it is like keeping the ship in the custody of Kerala government as a guarantee for the appearance of the other four marines at the time of hearing of the case. If the ship was the property of the Italian Government it has logic. But it is owned by private party. Coming to the comparison of imaginary railway situation, it will be keeping the railway compartment as a guarantee for the presence of witness at the hearing of the case. Can the railway held responsible for the appearance of witness who were passengers at the time of incident?

Compensation for fishermen families

Italian government has told that this money given was just a goodwill gesture. Now they have said the same to SC also. The agreement made has no legal sanctity and it is for all purposes a valueless scrap of paper. There is no meaning harping on the issue and take the view that it has helped the poor families to tide over the immediate difficulties and make a decent life. Let the criminal case go as per the law and if the marines are found guilty and punished the court can ask to give proper compensation to the families as if nothing had happened. Let it not take into account what was paid by the Italian government already. And why the apex court is not pulling up Kerala court which has approved to include the fishermen families as a party for the case and later allowed it to withdraw from it? Is it not the fault of the court in Kerala?. Government have no hand in that. Let the poor families live peacefully at least. They should not be dragged into all these legal controversies and make their life miserable for the ham-handed way the authorities deal with the killings a tragedy for the families.

Imaginary happening on a train

I want to repeat what the apex court had earlier observed regarding detaining the ship and crew. Here is an imaginary situation.  Due to frequent thefts Government had employed armed guards in sleeper compartments for the safety of passengers. Early morning at about 3 am the train stopped in between. When the train was just starting a passenger hurriedly took one suitcase and hurried to the door and was getting down. One of the police man noticed it. The other police man was dozing. The alert police man thought that the person hurrying must be a thief and ran after him to catch him. Unfortunately when he was trying to catch him the person fell from the train. As the train had picked up speed the fall was fatal and he died of head injury. Later another passenger who was sitting near the person who was getting down told that he was a genuine passenger and was getting down as his house was near by. A case was filed against the police constable for causing the death of the passenger and he was arrested and sent to judicial custody. Now should the compartment detained at the nearest railway station along with the passengers till the case is over? Who will answer for the trouble the passengers will be having to stay in the compartment for months or years? Is it not the same case with Enrica Lexie? The railway compartment has no part in the incident and so the ship. The passengers are not involved in it and those who were awake and looking at the scuffle only just witnesses. So were the other crew . It is very illogical to detain the ship or put stringent conditions to release it.