Marines got bail on envoys word to Supreme Court

If one revisits the proceedings in the Supreme Court and recall how the two Italian marines were granted bail on February 22 to enable

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If one revisits the proceedings in the Supreme Court and recall how the two Italian marines were granted bail on February 22 to enable them to cast votes in the general election in Italy,it could arguably appear a lot more easier than it would have been for an ordinary murder case accused.

Questions loom all the more when under an Indian law,Representation of the People Act,the right to vote has been taken away from any person if he is confined in a prison under any circumstances or is in the lawful custody of the police. There could be no denial that the marines were under the lawful custody of the Supreme Court and were bound to stand the trial for killing two fishermen off the Kerala coast in February last year.

Obviously,the prime difference in the circumstances being there was an undertaking by none other than the Italian ambassador,on behalf of the Republic of Italy,that they would abide by all the conditions and return after four weeks.

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A fortnight after procuring the order from the highest court of the land,the case has become exceptional in yet another manner. Italy has now refused to send them back to India for standing trial,creating a flutter in the diplomatic circles.

When the marines filed their application to go to Italy,their lawyers and officials in the embassy kept this request away from media glare till the time it was formally listed before a Bench led by Chief Justice of India Altamas Kabir.

This Bench had earlier decided the joint petitions by Italian government and the marines by ruling that a special court should be set up to try the duo under murder charge. While holding that Kerala had no jurisdiction to try them,the court had affirmed Indias jurisdiction to try the marines after underlining that a criminal act cannot be said to be an incident of navigation.

On February 19,when the application came up for hearing,their counsel requested for permission to let them travel back to their country for four weeks so that they vote in the general election in Italy on February 24 and 25.

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One of the judges on the Bench,Justice Vikramjit Sen,however,referred to a statement by a former Italy PM that they could cast their votes by writing too. But the lawyer said there was no postal ballot in Italy and cited a previous instance in December last when the marines visited their home for Christmas and returned to face legal proceedings as promised.

The Bench asked the Centre,being represented by an Additional Solicitor General,to respond and fixed the hearing two days later.

On February 22,the ASG raised only one issue to ascertain if postal ballot was allowed or not in Italy. The marines counsel were ready with an additional affidavit by Daniele Mancini,the Italian ambassador. It submitted that under Italian laws,the two was not entitled to cast their votes in their present circumstances.

The affidavit also affirmed that he took full responsibility for the marines to proceed to Italy in the custody of the Government of Italy and to ensure their return to India.

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Keralas counsel opposed it,saying the court should not ignore that the marines were still accused under the murder charge. The Bench replied: You now have a very limited role and the state counsel had to take his seat.

The court then passed an order allowing their application to go for the entire four weeks while the election was scheduled for February 24-25. It also passed a specific directive to allow them to travel to Italy on the basis of temporary passports and the Ministry of Home Affairs to make all arrangements for their necessary exit.