SC allows Italian marine to remain in his country

The Supreme Court on Wednesday granted permission to Italian Marine Massimiliano Latorre to remain in his country till the international arbitral tribunal decides the jurisdictional issue. He, along with his colleague, is accused of killing two Indian fishermen off the Kerala coast in 2012.

The apex court imposed some conditions similar to those put on the other marine, Salvatore Girone, while allowing him to stay in his country. A three-judge bench presided over by Justice A R Dave, however, asked the Union government to submit a report every three months about the progress of case at the international arbitral tribunal, which would take a decision on which country has the right to try the case.

The bench, also comprising Justices Kurian Joseph and Amitava Roy, passed the order after the Additional Solicitor General P S Narasimha placed before it a written affidavit on behalf of the Union government, saying it had no objection to Latorre's plea, provided the same conditions were imposed on him as was done in the case of the other marine.

During the brief hearing, senior advocate K N Balagopal, appearing for the Kerala government, raised some objections on the plea. Senior advocate Rana Mukharjee, appearing for the victims’ family, said it was unlikely that the matter would conclude before the tribunal by 2018 or 2020 and claimed that the game plan was to drag the case.