[BREAKING] Supreme Court closes all proceedings in India against Italian marines after payment of Rs. 10 crore compensation by Italy

The Supreme Court on Tuesday ordered the closure of all proceedings pending in India against two Italian marines Salvatore Girone and Massimiliano Latorre, who were accused of killing of two Indian fishermen off the coast of Kerala in 2012.

. A Bench of Justices Indira Banerjee and MR Shah passed the order after the Central government informed the Court last week that an amount of ₹ 10 crores agreed to be paid by Republic of Italy as compensation for killing the two Indian fishermen, has been deposited with the Registry of the top court.

"Considering the tribunal order, Republic of India has agreed to the compensation of 10 crores. Republic of Italy has deposited it and it is now transferred to this court's registry. We are satisfied with the compensation and the ex-gratia paid over and above earlier. This is a fit case to close all proceedings in India under Article 142 of the Constitution," the Court ordered.

. The Court further directed that Rs. 10 crore lying with the apex court be transferred to Kerala High Court Registry, out of which Rs 4 crore each should be paid to the families of the two victims and Rs 2 crore should go to owner of the boat on which the two fishermen were shot dead.

. " We direct that the amount of Rs. Ten Crores now lying with the Registry of this Court be transferred to the High Court of Kerala, out of which Rupees Four Crores be paid to the heirs of each deceased and Rs. Two crores be paid to the owner of the boat – St. Antony. We request the Hon’ble Chief Justice of the Kerala High Court to nominate a Judge to pass appropriate order of disbursement/investment of the amount to be paid to the heirs of each deceased (Rupees Four Crores each) so as to protect the interest of the heirs and ensure that the compensation is duly received by the heirs and not diverted/misappropriated. The order of disbursement/investment be passed after hearing the heirs of each deceased and appropriate order be passed, protecting the best interest of the heirs of each deceased. The remaining amount of Rs. Two Crores be paid to the owner of the boat – St. Antony by an account payee cheque ," reads the order.

. The Court further said that Republic of Italy shall now resume the criminal proceedings.

. Solicitor General Tushar Mehta told the Court during the last hearing that usually the compensation in such cases is deposited in the Fixed Deposit (FD) account so that interest can be derived by the victims.

. Senior Advocate KN Balagopal , appearing for the Kerala government, submitted that the compensation can be briefly kept in an FD, but would eventually have to be handed over to the victims.

. Senior Advocate Suhail Dutt , appearing for the Republic of Italy, argued that in view of the award of the arbitral tribunal, the proceedings in India should be closed.

Advocates C Unnikrishnan and A Karthik appeared for legal representatives of the deceased.

. Eight months ago, the Centre had informed the apex court about its decision to “accept and abide” by an arbitral award by the Permanent Court of Arbitration (PCA) which ruled that Girone and Latorre should be tried in their native Italy.

The PCA had ruled that the marines cannot be tried by India since they enjoyed immunity as they were exercising official functions in their capacity as Italian state officials when the incident occurred.

It, however, held that India is entitled to compensation for the loss of life since its freedom and right of navigation was violated by themarines.

Subsequently, Italy had agreed to pay Rs. 10 crore as compensation which was accepted by India.

. Girone and Latorre, who were detailed on the Italian ship ‘Enrica Lexie’, had allegedly shot the fishermen thinking they were ‘pirates’.

The tribunal’s finding that the marines had immunity came seven years after the Supreme Court ordered the Centre to “proceed with the investigation and trial of the marines” in a decision on January 18, 2013. The apex court had ordered the Centre to set up a Special Court to try the case. Prior to the Supreme Court verdict, the Kerala High Court too had found that the marines enjoyed no immunity.

However, in 2014, the marines had successfully procured a stay order on the investigation by the National Investigation Agency. A year later, the Supreme Court had stopped its own proceedings to wait for the verdict from the International Tribunal on Law of Seas.

. [READ ORDER]

[BREAKING] Supreme Court closes all proceedings in India against Italian marines after payment of Rs. 10 crore compensation by Italy

Debayan Roy

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