With Kerala High Court accepting the out-of-court settlement, a major portion of the entire Enrica Lexie case is over. It now is all about mere prosecution of the accused.
Though the victims withdrew all the petitions and submissions field by them against the marines
and pardoned the accused ‘in the name of Jesus’, the state government can go ahead with the FIR registered against them, legal experts pointed out.
Experts pointed out that the out-of-court settlement reached was good for the victims.
If they had decided to go ahead with the civil suits filed before the court, it would take at least four years to complete the proceedings and a meagre compensation of Rs 10 to 15 lakh.
The two advocates who represented the victims’ families, C. Unnikrishnan and Shyam Kumar, also expressed happiness that the matter got over so quickly.
Director General of Prosecution Asaf Ali feels that the case in hand is strong and the state
has every right to prosecute the two Italian marines for killing the fishermen.