HC reserves order on appeal by crew of US company owned ship

Madras High Court today reserved its order on an appeal by 35 crew members of US company-owned ship M V Seaman Guard Ohio, seeking a stay on the sentence of five-year rigorous imprisonment awarded to them by a lower court on charges of illegally possessing weapons and entering Indian waters.
Justice V S Ravi, who heard the argument of both 'Q' branch police (intelligence wing) and the petitioners, reserved the orders without mentioning the date.
The government advocate submitted that the crew had no work in this part of the Indian ocean and countered the petitioners' submission that they were involved in preventing piracy in the Indian ocean.

"When there is no piracy where is the question of preventing?" he asked.
Besides they did not have a convincing reply on why they did not switch off the lights when they anchored in Indian territory, he said.
Till today, it was not known why the crew, which did not have valid documents, had entered Indian territory without permission, who they were and why they possessed arms during the stay in the Indian ocean for 48 hours, he said

There was also no proof of their bonafides. Arms carried by them were allowed only for the Army,paramilitary and police forces and it was not known how they had it. The intention itself attracted the Arms act, the government advocate said.

The petitioners submitted that they were innocent and they had carried the arms only for anti-piracy activities. They pointed out they had been granted bail twice already, had not escaped and obeyed orders of the court.
They had been in prison for nine months and hence the sentence should be suspended, they contended.
The crew claimed that the Indian Arms Act would not apply to them. Cases could not be registered against them under the Act nor could they be convicted under it, they said.
Besides 25 of them were ex-army men and they would not cause any threat to the security of India, they said.

Tuticorin District and Session Judge Rajasekhar had sentenced them to five years RI on January 11 and also slapped a fine of Rs 3,000 each on the crew, comprising 12 Indians, three Ukranians, six British and 14 Estonian nationals.
The crew, arrested on Oct 18, 2013 after their ship was intercepted by Coast Guard off Tuticorin port,had been granted conditional bail by Madurai High court Bench in March, 2014.
They were arrested after the Coast Guard found the ship carrying arms illegally in Indian waters off Tuticorin, a charge denied by the vessel authorities.
They faced charges under Arms Act and Essential Commodities Act which was invoked as the ship had allegedly bought diesel from a local agent in violation of law.

US firm AdvanFort International, which owns the ship, has maintained that the vessel was involved in anti-piracy operations and had not strayed into Indian waters.