The Madras High Court has come to the help of 27 crew members of MT Chemical Arrow, now lying at the Port of Kakinada in Andhra Pradesh, by directing the ship owners to pay Rs 2.25 crore towards salary and arrears of wages to them.
Justice R Sudhakar gave the direction while passing further orders on an application arising out of a civil suit from Demyanenko Volodymyr and 26 others.
The application prayed for a direction to the Advocate-Commissioner, appointed by the High Court, to pay the wages to the crew, which was equivalent to Rs 2.88 crore (excluding compensation) out of the sale proceeds of the ship and on obtaining suitable permission from the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) for payment in foreign exchange and also for obtaining air tickets for the repatriation of the crew.
On the basis of the documents filed by some of the petitioners and others disputing the claim over payment of wages due to them, the judge directed payment of Rs 2.25 crore to all the crew members. The Advocate-Commissioner should pay the amount after obtaining necessary permission from the RBI and also arrange for air tickets for their repatriation to their respective countries, the judge said.