The fine print of the order of the United Nations’ Permanent Court of Arbitration will shed light on what terms the marine Salvatore Girone will be allowed to go home to Italy. What has been established is the fundamental principle of bail during pendency of the case, so too the primacy of the Supreme Court of India in the matter of Girone returning to Italy till the UN tribunal decides who has jurisdiction in the larger case of the killing of two Indian fishermen by two Italian marines on the high seas off the Kerala coast. What remains is the difficult reconciliation of the opposite views of India and Italy.
The passage of four years between the incident and the ruling at The Hague represents an indictment of the Indian judicial system. Notwithstanding that this is a complicated case of international jurisdictions, it is true that nothing of import has been determined till now. Also, so much has changed between 2012 and now with regard to piracy, with the policy of ships arming themselves to cross hazardous waters off the Africa coast having brought dividends in terms of curbing Somali pirates.
Where the incident actually took place has not been definitively established, but what it has done is cloud the usually warm Italy-India ties. It would appear that since reparations are not an issue anymore, this appears to be a case to be settled between the Indian and Italian governments at the highest level. A bit of give-and-take may be called for. A sentence to be served by the marines in an Italian jail would appear to be the best solution. Will India accept that?
