New Delhi: A Delhi court on Wednesday fixed August 27 for hearing the case involving two Italian marines, accused of killing two Indian fishermen off the Kerala coast in 2012. The matter came up for hearing before Additional Sessions Judge Reetesh Singh who asked the investigating officer of the case to appear before the court on the next date of hearing.
Earlier, the National Investigation Agency (NIA) and the counsel appearing for the marines Massimiliano Latorre and Salvatore Girone had informed the court that the Supreme Court had said that the proceedings before the trial court be kept in abeyance till further orders.
The marines had approached the apex court challenging the jurisdiction of NIA to prosecute and probe the case after the Indian government had decided to withdraw their prosecution under the stringent anti-piracy SUA law that attracts death penalty as maximum punishment. NIA had earlier told the court that it was "ready" with the charge sheet in the case pertaining to the killing of the Indian fishermen allegedly by Latorre and Girone on board Enrica Lexie.
Fearing a pirate attack, the two officers had allegedly fired at the fishermen's vessel off Kerala coast on February 15, 2012, killing two of them. The marines were arrested on February 19, 2012. The Supreme Court, on January 18 last year, had held that the marines should be tried by the Centre and had turned down the plea of the Italian government that Indian courts had no jurisdiction in the case.
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