NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court has issued notice to the Centre on a writ petition seeking a probe into the disappearance of ship `Jupiter 6,' its crew and other members in mysterious circumstances since September 2005.

A Bench of Justice H.K. Sema and Justice P.K. Balasubramanyan has also issued notice to the Director-General of Shipping; Pelmar Shipping and Engineering (PSAE) Private Limited and Pelican Marine Personnel Management Private Limited on the petition filed by the family members of the missing persons.

The petitioners, Sabeeha Faikage and four others, said they were the next of kin of their respective family members who were employed by their foreign principals to work on board a foreign tug ship, `Jupiter 6' through their Mumbai-based agent, PSAE. Jupiter 6 consisted of 10 Indians and 3 Ukrainians.

The ship was said to have sailed from Walvis Bay to India via South Africa on August 21, 2005, when the crew informed their families of their return to India. They said that according to the agent PSAE Jupiter 6 went missing since September 5, 2005.

They said that even after the issue was raised in Parliament, the Centre and other authorities had failed to take steps to trace the missing ship and the crewmembers.

They said that on various dates, during the past one year newspapers and television channels across India reported about the incident. In spite of this no concrete measures were taken to seriously pursue and trace the missing Indian sailors.

The petitioners said that the State could not be a mute spectator to this agony and till date neither the Prime Minister, nor any other authority had even bothered to comment on the plight of these Indians.

They sought a direction to the Centre to conduct a probe into the disappearance of the ship and the crewmembers and to award suitable compensation to the family members.

Printer friendly page  
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail