The incident occurred after two Italians Marines fired against a boat off the Kerala coast in February 2012.
"We direct that out of the amount of Rs 2 crores, which was to be paid to the Captain and Owner of the Boat, Rs 5 lakhs each to be paid to the respective fisherman (total 9 in number including the minor)", a Bench of Justices MR Shah and MM Sundresh said.
The Bench was hearing a plea by the fishermen who were on board the fishing boat which was attacked by the Italian Marines, seeking compensation out of the amount of 2 crores, directed to be paid to Boat owner.
The aforesaid amount of Rs 5 lakhs is to be disbursed by the Registry of the Kerala High Court by account paid cheque after proper identification of the parties, the Court said.
On August 19, 2021, the Supreme Court
had ordered a stay on the disbursement of the compensation of 2 crores to the owner of the boat named "St Antony".
The Court had also requested the Kerala High Court to not disburse any amount to the boat owner in
terms of the Supreme Court's June 15, 2021 order which had directed the disbursement of the amount of Rs 10 crores compensation deposited by the Republic of Italy.
The amount of Rs 2 crores was directed to be paid to a Captain as well as Owner of the boat 'St. Antony'. The respective fishermen were claiming compensation out of the aforesaid amount of Rs 2 crores, the Court noted.
The Bench then directed that the remaining amount of Rs 1.55 Crores be paid to the Captain and the Owner of the boat.
The Bench made its decision after hearing the rival parties and considering the award dated May 21, 2020 passed by Arbitral Tribunal constituted under Annex VII of the United Nations Convention on the Law of Sea (UNCLOS).
The applicants say that they were also injured in the incident and are therefore entitled to compensation. The application was filed on July 7, 2021, after the Supreme Court's order of June 15 which quashed the criminal proceedings pending in India against two Italian Marines -Massimilano Latorre and Salvatore Girone - with respect to the 2012 sea-firing incident which killed two Indian fishermen.
The Supreme Court quashed the criminal proceedings accepting the compensation of Rupees 10 crores deposited by the Republic of Italy.
The Bench had directed that the amount of Rs. Ten Crores lying with the Registry Supreme Court be transferred of High Court of Kerala, out of which Rupees Four Crores be paid to the heirs of the two fishermen who got killed in the incident and Rs. Two crores to the owner of the St. Antony boat.
The applications on behalf of the fishermen were drafted by Kochhar & Co. Partners – Krishna Vijay Singh and Manish Dembla and the matter was argued before the court by Manish Dembla. Kochhar & Co. stated that it assisted the fishermen in this matter pro bono as a part of its policy to provide access to justice to the economically weaker sections of the society. The boat owner was represented by K. Parameshwar and A. Karthik, Advocates.
