Italian Ambassador to India Daniele Mancini may be declared persona non grata and asked to leave India if the two Italian marines are not sent back to India to face trial in the next 10 days, according to media reports quoting official sources. Mancini had given an undertaking to the Supreme Court that the two marines - Massimilano Latorre and Salvatore Girone - would return to New Delhi after voting in Italy, but late on Monday, the Italian government reneged on that pledge. The episode has profoundly embarrassed the Indian government, with the Opposition accusing it of either being complicit with the Italian government or of being incompetent. Technically, the marines, who were given a four-week leave, can still be made to return to India by 22 March. But if Italy doesn’t deliver them in order to face trial in India,
media reports said
, the Supreme Court could summon the Italian Ambassador to explain himself and for likely contempt proceedings. If, however, Mancini cites diplomatic immunity - to which he is entitled - that would give the Indian government sufficient grounds to send him packing. [caption id=“attachment_657405” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]
India doesn’t have many options to bring back the marines. AP[/caption] The two Italian marines are charged with homicide for killing two fishermen off the Kerala coast in February last year, but were permitted by the Supreme Court last month to travel to Italy for four weeks to vote in the parliamentary elections. Since they were not residents of India, they were not eligible to vote in the Italian Embassy. The question of whether Mancini can invoke diplomatic immunity in response to a summons from the Supreme Court is variously interpreted by legal experts. The Hindu reports, quoting Solicitor General Mohan Parasaran that the question of immunity was “complicted” and required discussions at the highest level. “This is a serious matter. We are primarily concerned with the rule of law. The decision of the Supreme Court has to be given due regard in and outside the country,” he added. PTI quoted Parasaran as saying additionally that having submitted itself to the jurisdiction of the Supreme Court, the Italian government, as represented by its Ambassador Mancini, should abide by its undertaking. “After submitting to the jurisdiction of the Supreme Court, nobody, however high and mighty, can take the Supreme Court for a ride,” he said. On Tuesday, India’s External Affairs Ministry summoned Mancini and “conveyed India’s position on the matter in the strongest possible terms,” Foreign Secretary Ranjan Mathai said. “I summoned the Italian Ambassador to my office,” Mathai said. “Basically, what I told him is that the content of the note which was given to us conveying the position of the Government of Italy regarding the two marines is not acceptable to us. There was an offer of discussions which has been made in a note from the Italians on March 6 - but that is separate from the assurance given to the Supreme Court.” According to the Ministry of External Affairs, the Indian government had conveyed sternly to the Italian ambassador that it did not agree with the position conveyed by the Italian government on the return of the two marines, and that India expects Italy to fulfill its “sovereign undertaking” to the Supreme Court. “It was only following this undertaking that the Supreme Court allowed the two marines to travel to and remain in Italy for a period of four weeks and return to India under the care, supervision and control of the Italian Republic,” the Ministry spokesperson said. “It was conveyed to the Italian Ambassador that the Italian Government was obliged to ensure their return to India within the stipulated period as per the terms of the Supreme Court order.” Asked about the Italian Ambassador’s reaction, Mathai said Mancini had taken note of the position conveyed to him and had said that he would convey it to his government. India may, however, not have many options in responding to Italy ’s brazen breach of its undertaking, reports The Times of India. “As long as India had custody of the marines, it had many options. Without custody, those options decline dramatically,”
this analyst notes
. “India cannot take Italy to an international tribunal without fundamentally agreeing with the Italian point of view - that the case should be settled according to the laws of the sea.” Kerala’s counsel Ramesh Babu too agrees that India’s options have shrunk.
This report
quotes him as saying that while it was doubtless true that Italy was “bound to comply with the Ambassador’s undertaking,” India’s legal options - in the event that Italy did not comply with its undertaking - were fairly limited. “Usually, the court issues an arrest warrant, but here we cannot go and arrest them in Italy. Ultimately, we may have to go for a diplomatic solution,” he adds.