Italian crew may escape India trial

NEW DELHI: The GPS (global positioning system) on board Italian tanker Enrica Lexie holds the key to determining whether six Italian naval personnel could be prosecuted in Indian courts or whether it should be left to Italy to act against them.

The Enrica Lexie’s security detail, which killed two Indian fishermen off the Kerala coast on Wednesday believing them to be pirates, can be prosecuted fully under the Indian Penal Code only if the incident happened in Indian territorial waters. All Indian laws are enforceable up to 12 nautical miles from the shoreline.

But with indications that the shooting may have taken place in international waters, the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea comes into play. “Under it, the accused can only be tried in Italian courts, and that too only if the Italian government wants it,” said an official.

Indian authorities are in a fix over this jurisdiction problem since preliminary investigations show Enrica Lexie was around 18-20 nautical miles from Indian shores during the incident. So, in effect, Enrica Lexie was in international waters, even though it was in the Indian Exclusive Economic Zone that stretches to 200 nautical miles from the coast.

The shooting has led to frayed tempers in Kerala. All parties have condemned the shooting and CM Oomen Chandy has said that the culprits will be brought to book with the police registering cases. The police have also served a notice to the ship’s crew to produce the weapon used to shoot the anglers and have decided to search the ship if that does not happen. The Union home ministry has given its go-ahead.