The Supreme Court on Friday rejected Italy’s challenge against the National Investigation Agency (NIA) probing the Italian Marines case while asking the Centre to ensure the trial of the case was completed expeditiously.
The bench of Chief Justice Altamas Kabir, Justices AR Dave and Vikramajit Sen also discarded Italy’s plea to drop the offence under the fresh FIR lodged by NIA which would fetch the Marines a mandatory death sentence.
The Court ordered that the special court constituted by the Centre in Delhi should hear the matter on a day-to-day basis after filing of the charge sheet. The designated court would exclusively hear the case, the bench said.
On April 4, 2013 NIA had lodged a case of murder under IPC and Section 3 of Suppression of Unlawful Acts against Safety of Maritime Navigation and Fixed Platforms on Continental Shelf Act 2002, which is punishable only with death.
The Italian Government had raised opposition against the death penalty provision introduced by NIA.
The two Marines — Massimiliano latorre and Salvatore Girone, had shot dead two Indian fishermen, 31 nautical miles off the Kerala coast. The Marines were on board Italian vessel ‘Enrica lexie’ on February 15 last year, the date of incident.