Fishermen killing: SC orders closure of court proceedings in India against two Italian marines

The Supreme Court on Tuesday ordered the closure of court proceedings in India against two Italian marines detailed on the vessel Enrica Lexie, who allegedly killed two fishermen off the Kerala coast after mistaking them for pirates in 2012.

A Bench of Justices Indira Banerjee and M.R. Shah agreed to the federal government’s plea to cease the felony trial and different proceedings against the marines, Salvatore Girone and Massimiliano Latorre, following a United Nation tribunal resolution that the duo can be tried in Italy.

The court recorded that Italy has transferred ₹10 crore to India as compensation for the bereaved households of the fishermen. The households have famous their satisfaction with the quantity. The cash has already been transferred to the Supreme Court Registry by the Ministry of External Affairs.

The court stated there was a basic consensus among the many stakeholders in the case, and it too felt, that ₹10 crore, over and above the ex gratia quantities the households had acquired earlier, was a “reasonable amount of compensation”. Justice Shah, who learn out the order, concluded that this was a “fit case to close all proceedings in India”.

The Bench ordered the quantity to be transferred from the Supreme Court Registry to the Kerala High Court. The Supreme Court requested the Chief Justice of Kerala High Court to appoint a choose to listen to the households of the two deceased fishermen and disburse ₹ 4 crore every to their rightful authorized heirs. The Bench stated care ought to be taken that the cash reached the heirs and was not “diverted” into mistaken palms. The steadiness ₹ 2 crore, the court ordered, can be paid to the proprietor of the fishing boat which got here beneath assault from the marines.

The court urged Italy to renew the felony proceedings against the marines in compliance with the U.N. tribunal. It requested Italy, India and the State of Kerala to cooperate with one another to convey justice in the case.

On April 9, the Supreme Court had instructed the Centre that it could take into account passing an order to quash the felony proceedings solely after Italy deposited ₹10 crore as compensation.

For Italy, advocate Suhail Dutt, submitted that India’s jurisdiction over the marines had stopped as quickly as Italy paid the compensation quantity.

The court had afterward expressed concern about whether or not the cash acquired as compensation can be “frittered away”.

“₹4 crore is not a small amount… It should not be frittered away. How do we protect their (families’) interests,” Justice Shah had requested in a June 11 listening to.

The victims’ lawyer had stated the authorized heirs of the fishermen had attained the age of majority. Kerala authorities, represented by senior advocate K.N. Balagopal and advocate G. Prakash, stated the State had earlier performed a preliminary verification of the authorized heirs and located them accountable. The cash the households had earlier acquired as ex gratia funds had been utilised nicely.

The worldwide tribunal’s discovering that the marines have immunity got here seven years after the Supreme Court ordered the Centre to “proceed with the investigation and trial of the marines” in a choice on January 18, 2013. The Supreme Court had ordered the Centre to arrange a Special Court to strive the case. Prior to the Supreme Court verdict, the Kerala High Court too had discovered that the marines loved no immunity.

However, in 2014, the marines had efficiently gained a keep order on the investigation by the National Investigation Agency. A yr later, the Supreme Court froze its personal proceedings when the case reached the International Tribunal on Law of Seas. In September 2015, the Supreme Court deferred the case until additional orders.