2 for 109: India wants all prisoners back in lieu of Italian marines

NEW DELHI: India could allow the two Italian marines accused of killing two fishermen to spend their jail term in an Italian prison if they are convicted of the charge, but Italy will need to extend such a benefit to some 109 Indian prisoners locked up in its jails.

A senior home ministry official told ET that such a quid pro quo scheme could be worked out under the provisions of an agreement signed between the two countries last year, which allows for this arrangement after the case has finally been disposed of by the highest court of either country and the sentence is not the death penalty. "There are 109 Indian prisoners in Italian jails... India will negotiate for the transfer of these Indian prisoners if the Italian marines are to be sent to Italy to serve their sentence," this official said.

The case of the two marines - Salvatore Girone and Massimiliano Latorre - accused of killing the two fishermen off the Kerala coast has become the subject of high-stakes diplomacy and threatened to cast a shadow over otherwise friendly diplomatic relations between the two countries.

Tensions arose last month after Italy refused to send back the marines to face trial, disregarding a sovereign undertaking given to the Supreme Court by its ambassador to India. It later relented after the apex court and the government came down heavily on it for what they said was a breach of trust.


The marines have since returned to the country. On Monday, the home ministry transferred the Italian marines’ case to the National Investigation Agency (NIA), which has lodged a case on charges of murder under Section 302 of the Indian Penal Code and given an assurance that it will conclude the investigation expeditiously.

“To start with, the case will be registered by NIA under Section 302 of IPC as was done by the Kerala Police. They may be charged for a lesser offence at the stage of a charge sheet by NIA depending upon the result of the probe. NIA will be questioning the two marines and families of the deceased fishermen soon and may submit a charge sheet within one month,” a home ministry official said. Foreign Minister Salman Khurshid had told ET last week that he did not think there will be charges against the Italian marines under Section 302.

“But even if there are charges under 302, it is not rarest of rare case,” Khurshid had said, justifying why the government had assured Italy that the marines will not face the death penalty. Under Section 302, the punishment on conviction is either imprisonment for life or the death penalty.

However, the NIA will be studying if the two Italian marines could be charged under Section 304 of IPC — culpable homicide not amounting to murder — which has a punishment of 10 years in jail or life imprisonment.

The Italian marines have claimed a case of mistaken identity, saying they had opened fire at the fishermen suspecting them to be pirates. NIA is also examining whether the two marines can be charged under the Suppression of Unlawful Acts Against Safety of Maritime Navigation and Fixed Platforms on Continental Shelf Act of 2002, which if applied in this case, could complicate the case hugely.