KOCHI: In a major setback to the state government in the Enrica Lexie case, the legal heirs of the two deceased fishermen approached the Kerala High Court to withdraw the counter-affidavit and the petition against the Italian marines, thereby dropping the charges against them.The state government’s criminal case against the Italian marines would be unaffected by the withdrawal of the petition by the kin of the deceased. “In the initial stages, the family members were not party to the petition. It was only later that they got impleaded in the case. The case will go ahead,” said Advocate-General K P Dandapani.Doramma, wife of the deceased Valentine, and two minor children, along with the sisters of the deceased Ajeesh Pink, submitted that they were unconditionally withdrawing all charges. The oral submissions made during court hearing will also be withdrawn, they said. The family members took the decision after making an agreement with an Italian representative for an out-of-court settlement. The court will consider the plea on Tuesday. Justice P S Gopinathan has reserved its order on the petition filed by the two accused, Latorre Massimiliano and Salvatore Girone, seeking to quash the first investigation report against them. Meanwhile, the victim’s kin submitted that they had reached an agreement with the Italian government on compensation. According to the agreement the families of the deceased will get `1 crore each as compensation.The Italian representative and the kin of the deceased will place the settlement agreement before the permanent lok adalat for legal approval on Tuesday. The adalath bench consisting of former Justice K John Mathew and former District Judge Sreelatha Devi will consider the plea. Victims’ kin and Consul General of Italy Giampaolo Cutillo will be present before the adalath.
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