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.