Few options for India in Italian marines' case - Times of India

NEW DELHI: India is left with few diplomatic or legal options after the two Italian marines, who were awaiting trial for murder of Indian fishermen, literally flew the coop by refusing to return from their voting holiday, allowed by the Supreme Court on February 22. The issue is fast becoming a major political embarrassment for the UPA government. The opposition BJP has promised to raise it in Parliament. In Kerala, the state government is coming under fire for letting the marines "escape". It drove chief minister Oommen Chandy to New Delhi to confer with the central leadership. The BJP has already drawn comparisons with the Ottavio Quattrochi case, and this is expected to put greater pressure on the government. Sources said Italian ambassador Daniele Mancini stands a real chance of being declared persona non-grata and asked to leave. The ambassador had undertaken that the marines — Massimilano Latorre and Salvatore Girone — would return to New Delhi to remain in custody until a judgment on the case by a special court. In its order, Supreme Court had said, "An additional affidavit has been filed by Daniele Mancini, ambassador of Italy in India, representing the applicant No.3, indicating that under the Italian laws, the petitioners 1 and 2 are not entitled to cast their votes in their present circumstances, and that they have to travel to Italy for the said purpose. The said respondent has also affirmed an affidavit of undertaking on 9th February, 2013, whereby he has taken full responsibility for the petitioner Nos. 1 and 2 to proceed to Italy in the custody and control of the Government of Italy and to ensure their return to India in terms of this order." Officially, the four-week leave granted to the marines comes to an end on March 22. If they haven't returned until then, the Supreme Court could summon the Italian envoy, which he would not be able to comply with, citing diplomatic immunity. That would be reason enough for India to renounce confidence in the envoy and send him back. As long as India had custody of the marines, it had many options. Without custody, those options decline dramatically. India cannot take Italy to an international tribunal, without fundamentally agreeing with the Italian point of view that the case should be settled according to the laws of the sea. In his conversations, Giulio Terzi, the Italian foreign minister, has repeatedly stated that the case should be resolved under the law of the seas, where Italy, he said, has jurisdiction over the marines. The Indian government and the Supreme Court have maintained that since the shooting happened on an Indian vessel, India had jurisdiction. The Supreme Court had transferred the case to be tried by a special court in New Delhi, which would be appointed by the central government. That court is yet to be appointed. via Top Stories - Google News http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=t&fd=R&usg=AFQjCNEv5x0Q3Nz2CmjjQrPYHdsGg9AxYA&url=http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Few-options-for-India-in-Italian-marines-case/articleshow/18941203.cms

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