UPA has fumbled badly in Italian Marines case
The Union Government's flip flops in the Italian Marines case has hurt India's standing on the international stage, damaged relations with a friendly nation and stalled the course of justice at home. More than two years after the Marines, part of a military security team protecting a private-owned cargo vessel, shot dead two Indian fishermen they thought were pirates off the coast of Kerala, the Government is still trying to make up its mind over how to charge the Italians. On Monday, Attorney General GE Vahanvati told the Supreme Court that the Union Government had decided not to invoke the Suppression of Unlawful Acts Against Safety of Maritime Navigation And Fixed Platforms on Continental Shelf Act, better known as the SUA Act. This was based on the Union law Minister's opinion that the case did not attract the provisions of the stringent anti-terror law, contrary to the stand taken earlier by the Union Ministry of Home Affairs. In previous weeks, a veritable turf war had ensued between the two ministries in this matter, prompting the Italians to take advantage of the divided house and petition the Supreme Court for leeways. Indeed, it was only after the apex court criticised the Government for dilly-dallying that the latter now seems to have woken up. But instead of putting things in order and making up for lost time, it is disappointing to see that the UPA has used this opportunity to score political brownie points. Minister for External Affairs Salman Khurshid, for instance, has pointed fingers at former Union Home Secretary RK Singh for seeking to try the Marines as ‘pirates' and, therefore, bungling the case. The retired bureaucrat, who has now joined active politics as a member of the principal Opposition, has retorted that the decision to invoke SUA was that of the probe agency concerned — in this case, the National Investigation Agency — and for scrutiny of the courts. But the spat is not about legal or procedural issues. It is about political brinkmanship in the run-up to a tough general election.
Unfortunately, as the Congress-led UPA has busied itself with cheap politicking, the Italians have consistently been working all available legal and diplomatic channels to secure the best deal for their Marines. And their efforts are bearing fruit. Already, the Italians had secured a major victory in 2012 when they extracted from New Delhi a promise that the Marines will not face the death penalty, in lieu of their return to India to face trial here. Their next big demand was that the Marines should not be charged under the SUA Act, as they claimed that it would be tantamount to accusing Italy of being a terrorist state. In this, Italy sought the assistance of the European Union and other Western nations, which weighed in heavily on New Delhi. Now, with the SUA Act gone, the defence has argued that the National Investigation Agency has no legal cover to probe the matter. On its part, the prosecution has said that in this case, the NIA is covered by the Supreme Court's mandate. The court will decide on this sometime next month. Meanwhile, the defence’s other argument that the Marines should be allowed to go back to Italy as the Indian Government is yet to file a charge-sheet against them even two years after their alleged crime, is, unfortunately, gaining strength.