HC dumps erroneous Italian petition

KOCHI: Pointing out some serious defects in the petition filed by the Italian authorities seeking quashing of FIR against two of its marines, the Kerala High Court on Thursday made it clear that the High Court would consider the petition only after they were rectified.“The Italian Government should not have an impression that the Indian Judiciary is so loose that anyone can come and file a petition before courts here,” Justice P S Gopinathan observed.When the case came up for hearing, he pointed out certain errors in the petition. The HC questioned the authority of Consul General Giampaolo Cutillo in filing the petition. Also the signature of the accused was not attested. “What is there to show that the petitioner, along with the other two, is Consul General. You have to prove your locus standi. There is no proper affidavit,” the court pointed out.The court asked the Consul General to produce necessary documentary evidence to prove that the Consul has the authorisation to represent the Italian Government in legal proceedings in this incident.However, counsel for the petitioners Suhail Dutt pointed out that there was no dispute on the authority of Cuttillo as the Consul General. Despite repeated request by the counsel to look into the documents, the court refused and directed the petitioners to address the faux pas. The case adjourned for hearing to Friday. Director General of Prosecutions T Asaf Ali submitted that according to the petition, the accused have signed at the Counsel’s office on February 22, but during that time the accused was in the police custody. DGP pointed out that these mistakes are inherent defects and hence the petitions should not be considered.“Massmilano sworn in his affidavit on behalf of the second accused and the Consul General of Italy and said that he was duly authorised to do so. The accused have no such authority and this was illegal,” the DGP said.