Italian Marines: Government in dilemma on invoking Suppression of Unlawful Acts

NEW DELHI: The government has sought more time from the Supreme Court to break the deadlock with Italy after India decided to invoke the law that entails death penalty against the two Italian marines accused of shooting dead two fishermen off the Kerala coast in February 2012.

Abench comprising Justices BS Chauhan and J Chelameswar on Monday permitted the government to make a “bona fide” attempt to resolve the issue and adjourned the case for further hearing on February 1, after Attorney General GE Vahanvati asked for more time.

The National Investigating Agency (NIA) had invoked the Act to assume jurisdiction over the case after the home ministry asked it to prosecute the marines. The Suppression of Unlawful Acts against Safety of Maritime Navigation and Fixed Platforms on Continental Shelf Act carries the maximum punishment of death penalty. However, the Italian government has objected to the home ministry’s sanction to the NIA to prosecute the marines along with other counts under the IPC.

The external affairs ministry, too, has serious reservations on this count because of its potential to seriously affecting bilateral ties and its consequential international repercussions. The issue has since been referred to the law ministry, an official said, adding, “The issue will be sorted out in a few weeks.”

The home ministry had on Sunday accorded sanction to the NIA to prosecute the case, but the official said the NIA would wait for the outcome of the court proceedings before filing a chargesheet against the marines.

The Italian marines had sought a discharge from the case last week on the grounds that despite a January 18, 2013 order that had directed the central government to set up a special court to try their case on a fasttrack basis, nothing had been done so far.

In the joint application, the Italian government also objected to the decision to invoke the law, saying this would tantamount to declaring Italy “a terrorist state”.