The Supreme Court on Friday allowed ailing Italian marine Massimiliano Latorre, who has been accused of murder, to visit Italy for medical treatment.
Latorre, who has been accused of murdering two Kerala fishermen, had filed a plea seeking permission to go back home on medical grounds. He was admitted to a hospital for a health condition similar to a brain stroke on August 31.
External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj had earlier on Tuesday said that India will not stop the Italian marine, facing murder charges, from returning home for a medical treatment.
The marines, Massimiliano Latorre and Salvatore Girone, part of a military security team protecting a tanker from piracy are accused of shooting two Indian fishermen off the coast of Kerala in February 2012.
India had dropped plans to prosecute two Italian marines accused of killing two fishermen under a tough anti-piracy law earlier on February 24, offering a chance to end a diplomatic row between the two countries.
Italy had strongly opposed India invoking the law, arguing that it would amount to treating the men as 'terrorists'. Rome had also called back its ambassador to New Delhi to protest against the delay in the two-year-old case.