Zee Media Bureau
New Delhi: In a significant development, the Supreme Court on Friday stayed the commencement of trial against two Italian marines accused of killing two Indian fishermen off Kerala coast.
According to reports, the apex court passed the order while responding to a plea moved by the two Italian nationals challenging jurisdiction of NIA to prosecute them and probe case.
The apex court, while deferring the scheduled proceedings of March 31 before special NIA court against the marines, also sought the Centre`s response on the plea moved by two accused.
The Centre recently dropped murder charges against the two Italian nationals - Massimiliano Latorre and Salvatore Girone – in connection with the case.
Defence Minister AK Antony, however, said that the government would proceed with stringent actions against Italian marines charged with the killing of two Indian fishermen.
Italy had strongly opposed India invoking the law, arguing that it would amount to treating the men as "terrorists" and it recalled its ambassador to New Delhi in protest against the delay in the two-year-old case.
The sailors, part of a military security team protecting a privately-owned cargo ship, say they mistook the fishermen for pirates and fired warning shots into the water during the incident in February 2012, off the coast of Kerala state.
The dispute over the marines provoked a public as well as a political outcry in both countries.
The marines, Massimiliano Latorre and Salvatore Girone, had been awaiting trial on charges of murder. Their Indian lawyers say their clients mistook the fishermen for pirates and fired warning shots into the water.
The two marines have denied killing anyone or aiming directly at the fishing boat.
