80 per cent of pirates are being let off: CBI

Eighty per cent of maritime pirates are being let off because of lack of effective international legal mechanism to put them to trial, CBI's Special Director Anil Sinha said today.
Quoting an international study, he said out of every 10 pirates caught, eight are being let off either due to lack of treaties and Standard Operation Protocols for transfer between the involved countries or disinterest shown by the countries which harbour such pirates.
Speaking at the valedictory session of a three-day workshop on curbing maritime piracy, Sinha said actions taken by agencies including the Indian Navy and Coast Guard have resulted in apprehension of a number of pirates.

"The International Maritime Bureau, Piracy Reporting Centre (PRC), has stated that the Indian Navy's action against Somalian pirates off the Gulf of Aden has resulted in the seas on the Indian side being declared a safe area for merchant ships and thus many ships have started taking the route in waters off the Indian coast," he said.
Sinha quoted from controversial ancient text 'Manu Smriti', often criticised by Dalit thinkers as foundation of caste system in the country, to explain evolvement of legal system to curb maritime piracy.
Terming 'Manu Smriti' as the oldest law book in the world, he said it laid down laws to govern commercial disputes having references to sea-borne traffic as well as inland and overland commerce.

More than 20 senior officials of CBI, NIA and state police participated in the three-day workshop. The resource persons for the workshop are drawn from BKA Germany; Indian Navy; State Police; NIA; UNODC and IDSA.
The aim of this Workshop was to share experiences and discuss various issues related to bilateral and multilateral cooperation in the joint endeavor to fight against maritime piracy.