The Kerala High Court will hear on March 9 further arguments on a writ petition filed by Italy seeking to quash the first information report (FIR) registered against two Italian marines in connection with the recent killing of two fishermen off the Kerala coast.
The petition was filed by Italian Consul-General Giampaolo Cutillio and the two Italian naval personnel, Massimiliano Lattore and Salvatore Girone, now under judicial custody. They contended that under the principles of international laws and conventions, including the United Nation Convention on the Law of the Sea to which India was a signatory, Indian courts had no jurisdiction to register a crime in connection with the alleged incident.
Counsel for the petitioners argued that the alleged offence did not take place in the Indian territorial waters or on board an Indian vessel. Therefore, the registration of the FIR, launching of an investigation into the alleged incident, and the arrest were wholly without jurisdiction, null, and void.
The court impleaded Doramma, wife and two sisters of the killed fishermen, as respondents in the case.
