SC seeks Centre reply on ailing marine’s plea
Senior advocates Soli Sorabjee and K T S Tulsi appeared for the Italian marines Latorre and Salvatore Girone.
The Supreme Court on Monday asked the Centre to respond if it was in favour of letting Massimiliano Latorre, one of the Italian marines facing murder charges in India, head back home for treatment.
A bench led by Chief Justice of India R M Lodha issued a notice to the government, seeking their response to Latorre’s plea to travel to his country for medical treatment for two months, and fixed the matter for further hearing on Friday.
In the meantime, the court also exempted Latorre, who suffered brain stroke on August 31, from appearing at the Chanakyapuri Police Station once a week, as a condition of his bail.
Senior advocates Soli Sorabjee and K T S Tulsi appeared for the Italian marines Latorre and Salvatore Girone.
They told the bench that Italian ambassador to India Daniele Mancini, who was also present in the court room, was ready to give any undertaking in this regard, besides willing to comply with all the conditions as deemed proper by the court.
Latorre and fellow marine Girone are currently barred from leaving India, pending a possible trial under murder charge for shooting two fishermen while serving as part of an anti-piracy mission on an Italian-flagged oil tanker, the Enrica Lexie, off Kerala coast in February 2012. They have been living at the Italian embassy, in the custody of the Supreme Court.
The court is to decide on the validity of the probe conducted by the National Investigation Agency against them, besides the other aspects relating to sending them up for trial under various charges.
‘Won’t oppose if court grants bail’
NEW DELHI: India on Monday said it will not oppose on “humanitarian grounds” the application of Massimiliano Latorre, the Italian marine facing murder charges here, to return to his country after he suffered a mild stroke recently. Responding to a question at her first media interaction, External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj said, “As regard to Italian marine’s application in the Supreme Court, we are not opposing that application on humanitarian grounds. If the court decides to give him this bail and allows him to return to Italy, we will not oppose it.” However, she ruled out that the issue can be settled through a diplomatic dialogue as was sought by Italy, saying it has to go through the judicial process.
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