The District and Sessions Court on Monday approved a panel of translators, comprising three Kollam-based priests, to translate the court proceedings on the Enrica Lexie firing case, in which the two accused are Italian nationals.
The panel, consisting of translators with knowledge in English, Malayalam and Italian, was submitted by Assistant Commissioner V Ajith on behalf of the State Government.
Three senior priests of the Kollam Latin Catholic diocese Fr Rolden Joseph Jacob, Fr Joseph Sugun Leon and Fr Paul Antony Mullassery are those in the panel. Any of the three will be summoned by the court during the trial. The priests were chosen after it was found that no government officers are able to handle the language and since there are no universities in the state which conducts courses in Italian language.
When the panel was submitted before the District Judge P D Rajan, the defence counsel raised apprehensions about the expertise of those mentioned in the panel in the Italian language. They may have acquaintance with the language but may not be competent enough to interpret the court proceedings, defence counsel contended.
The prosecution, represented by Special Public Prosecutor G Mohanraj, argued that the competence of the translators can be accessed by the court during the trial procedures. The prosecution submitted the documents sought by the defence counsel before the court for verification.
The defence counsel also raised a plea seeking the Italian translations of the copies of documentary evidences in the case which are either in English or Malayalam, as the accused are no acquainted with the language.
They also sought an English translation of the Italian passports of the marines, which had been surrendered to the court when the marines secured bail.
The pleas are expected to be decided on July 10, when the case will be next considered.