Even five months after the sessions court, which is trying 120 Somalian pirates, sent summons to around 90 foreign nationals to depose before it here, their respective countries are yet to respond.
The 91 nationals, summoned to depose before the court, were rescued by the Indian Navy and Indian Coast Guard between January and April 2011.
They hail from countries like Pakistan, Mozambique, Thailand, Iran, Myanmar and Indonesia.
The police have already sent two reminders this month to the embassies concerned.
“We have neither got any receipt nor letter from them saying that our request is under consideration. We just have a copy of acknowledgement with us,” said special public prosecutor Ranjeet Sangle.
“When our authorities had rescued them, the respective embassies had given an undertaking that whenever they would be required to depose in court they would send their nationals,” Sangle said.
These nationals are important witnesses as they were captured by the pirates and their deposition is crucial for the trial.
“After the court sent them summons, we had only received a letter raising issues in respect of payments to their nationals for travelling, lodging and boarding,” Sangle said, adding that this was not a concern of the prosecution or the police as the undertaking was already in place.
Two reminders sent on January 7 signed by the senior inspector of Yellow gate police station and Additional Commissioner of Police (South) have also not met with any response.
In all, 120 pirates were arrested between January and March 2011 and they were charged under relevant sections of the Indian Penal Code and Arms Act.
PTI
