Marines bail plea rejected

KOLLAM: The Kollam Chief Judicial Magistrate Court on Friday rejected the bail petition  moved by the two Italian Marines accused in the Enrica Lexie firing case.The CJM A K Gopakumar denied bail to the accused taking into account the argument of Deputy Director of Prosecution K O Raju that the Magistrate Court could not grant bail to the accused facing murder charges.“From the available materials court reasonably understand that the petitioners are liable to be prosecuted under sections 302(murder), 307(attempt to murder), 427(Mischief causing damage) read with section 34(Acts done by several persons in furtherance of common intention) of IPC. In such a circumstance because of statutory restrictions the court is not inclined to grant bail,” the order said.The Italian side was still reluctant to file a bail petition, as they had challenged the jurisdiction of the case registered by the Neendakara Coastal Police in the High Court and Supreme Court.However, it is learnt that with the Supreme Court posting the case to July, the Italian side was forced to move the plea in the CJM.In the petition submitted on Friday, the defense counsel, represented by Suhail Dutt and Abixit Singh, contended that the petitioners are absolutely innocent and are being falsely implicated by suppressing real facts.They have also challenged the jurisdiction in the petition. The petition stated that two marines were discharging their duty and firing was under bonafide belief that the deceased were pirates.The defense counsel indicated that they were likely to move to a higher court or the session’s court for the petition. Earlier in the day the remand period of the Marines was extended to May 25.It is expected that the police will file chargesheet in the case before May 19, when the remand period reaches 90 days.