New Delhi: The Supreme Court of India on Thursday allowed Salvatore Girone, one of the two Italian marines accused of killing two Indian fishermen off Kerala, to return to Italy while international arbitration into the matter is ongoing.
A vacation bench of Justices P.C. Pant and D.Y. Chandrachud agreed to Girone’s plea to send him back to his native country after the central government also endorsed the apex court’s condition that the Italian Ambassador should give an undertaking to the court that the marine would return to face the criminal trial in one month after the decision of the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea (ITLOS), and if required by it.
The apex court imposed some conditions on the marine which include that he has to report to a police station in Italy on first Wednesday of every month and the Italian Embassy has to inform the Indian Embassy in Rome about the same.
It also said the marine will not tamper with any evidence nor influence any witness in the case. The third condition imposed was that Girone will give an undertaking that he will remain under the jurisdiction of Supreme Court. Lastly, if found violating any of the conditions imposed, his bail will be cancelled.
During the hearing in the apex court, Additional Solicitor General (ASG) P.S. Narasimha said the central government has no objection to the application moved by Girone if he complies with the conditions imposed by the apex court.
“We support the application on humanitarian grounds subject to his compliance with the conditions imposed by the court,” the ASG said.
In 2012 when the incident happened, Chief Master Sergeant Massimiliano Latorre and Sergeant Major Girone were serving as security personnel on an Italian oil tanker MT Enrica Lexie crossing the Indian Ocean. Italy has said the marines were guarding an oil tanker and mistook the fishermen for pirates.
The dispute over the marines had escalated into a full-blown diplomatic crisis for Italy and India over who has jurisdiction over the case. Thursday’s court order came in the wake of April 29 order of ITLOS, asking both India and Italy to cooperate for Girone’s return till arbitration proceedings before it are going. Italy had invoked international arbitration on the issue of jurisdiction to try the two Italian marines.
The Tribunal is adjudicating only on the limited question of whether India or Italy has the jurisdiction to try the two marines for the killing of the innocent Indian fishermen. All court proceedings in India against the marines continue to be stayed till the jurisdiction is decided.
Girone has been living in the Italian embassy in New Delhi while Latorre is already in Italy on health grounds and his stay there was recently extended by the Supreme Court till September 30 this year.
However, Kerala’s new Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan has objected to Girone being allowed to leave India, saying that the Centre’s stand is unacceptable.
“Girone is accused of killing Indian fishermen. A person who is accused of committing a crime here must be tried here. Right from the beginning, the Centre has been up to foul play in the Italian marines case. The Centre’s stand is completely unacceptable. Italian marines must be tried in India,” Vijayan told Gulf News.