Kochi: The Kerala High Court on Tuesday allowed three foreign crew members of the Liberian-flagged cargo vessel 'MSC Elsa 3' to return to their home countries by relaxing an earlier condition imposed for their departure from India.
Justice Bechu Kurian Thomas permitted the three crew members to deposit Rs 1 lakh each in cash instead of furnishing bank guarantees of the same amount, after the court was informed that technical difficulties had prevented them from meeting the earlier requirement.
The three crew members are among seven foreign nationals who had approached the High Court seeking permission to leave India after remaining in the country for more than a year following the sinking of the vessel off the Kerala coast in May last year.
During the hearing, counsel for the petitioners informed the court that the three crew members had been unable to return despite an earlier order allowing them to leave because they could not arrange the required bank guarantees.
“They have not yet gone?” Justice Thomas orally remarked during the hearing before modifying the earlier order.
The court accepted the request, noting that the difficulty in arranging bank guarantees was a technical issue that justified changing the earlier condition.
It was ordered that the three petitioners could deposit Rs 1 lakh each in place of bank guarantees, enabling them to complete the remaining formalities for their departure from India.
The three crew members have not been named in the preliminary inquiry report prepared as part of the statutory investigation under the Merchant Shipping Act. They are also not accused in the criminal case registered by the Coastal Police Station, Fort Kochi, in connection with the sinking of the vessel.
The petitioners’ counsel also informed the court that the statutory inquiry being conducted by the jurisdictional Magistrate under Section 360 of the Merchant Shipping Act is scheduled for July 9.
Considering the ongoing proceedings, the High Court posted the writ petition for further hearing on July 14.
Earlier this month, the High Court had directed the remaining four crew members facing criminal proceedings to seek appropriate relief from the Magistrate’s court handling the case.
The court had also refused, for the time being, to allow two of them to leave the country, observing that their statements were required as part of the statutory investigation into the circumstances surrounding the sinking of the MSC Elsa 3.
With IANS inputs