[1]The Italians might have managed to get favourable statements from Freddie, the owner of the boat, St Antony, and relatives of the two killed fishermen but the state government on Monday took strong objection to the legality of the out-of-court settlement.
The apex court accepted the contentions and termed the settlement as a challenge to the Indian judicial system.
According to Mr Roshan D. Alexander, who was part of the state’s team which successfully defended the case at the apex court, each and every clause in the agreement restricted the parties from pursuing any kind of legal action against the marines in future.
“Such an agreement is unheard-of. We mainly focused on the illegality of the agreement and are happy that we managed to get the court’s attention.
The court’s observation that the Italians are playing with the law of the country is right as they didn’t inform us before reaching a settlement,” he added.
The state on Monday also asked the court to release the vessel upon imposing stringent conditions.
In the agreement Freddie had stated that he saw flashlights and heard sirens from the Vessel Enrica Lexie.
He also submitted that his fellow crew Valentine had no license to drive a boat.
But C. Unnikrishnan, the counsel for victim Jelastine’s wife Doramma, had a different opinion. “It is unfair criticism.
The only remedy left to get compensation is to reach an out of court settlement,” he said.
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