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Indian judicial opinion is sharply divided over whether foreign minister Salman Khurshid prejudged the trial of the two Italian marines, who face charges of killing two Indian fishermen, by assuring the Italian government that they would not be awarded death penalty.
The minister defended the government stand, stating it was not the “rarest of rare” cases and it was a special offence.
Fali Nariman, a senior advocate of the Supreme Court, told Business Standard, “It’s definitely not a question of pre-judging the case. After all, it’s not a deliberate murder done with intent. It’s a case of mistaken identity and that is a plausible stand. The Italian marines, most likely, mistook the Indian fishermen for pirates – of course, it’s a sad incident, but it’s not deliberate murder. Therefore, the assurance given by the foreign minister that death penalty will not be awarded to the two marines, is not misplaced.” Nariman added, “We are unnecessarily stirring up controversies where none exist.”
Rejecting the stand of the Indian government as a “compromise,” borne out of “secret negotiations”, Rajeev Dhavan, another senior advocate of the Supreme Court told Business Standard: “Khurshid’s legal experts have, obviously, misled him. Whether the wanton shooting of the Indian fishermen is among the ‘rarest of rare’ cases was not a decision for him to make pre-emptively.” Dhavan added: “It now appears that Sonia Gandhi’s lashing out at Italy was only a facade and some secret negotiations were taking place, and that a compromise had been evolved. Khurshid now reveals these negotiations suggesting no death penalty and the possibility of bail. This is totally presumptuous and takes over judicial decision which are not within his gift.”
<B>Media ire</B>
Meanwhile, there was outrage in Italian newspapers. Francesco Merlo, an opinion writer for liberal daily La Repubblica, wrote: “Unfortunately, a part of Italy thinks of India as a country of ragged people in exotic costumes, forgetting that it is the world’s biggest democracy, a nuclear power, a powerhouse of the global economy … the racist idea that Indians are savages (was) spread in a vulgar manner by Berlusconi’s newspapers.”
Merlo added: “It is sad that (prime minister) Mario Monti, who should have shown great responsibility precisely because of his international prestige, should end his tenure with this mortifying foreign policy imbroglio. This was an episode with two acts. In the first we ran. In the second we surrendered without conditions as soon as (India) said ‘boo!’. This confirms the prejudice Italy has always faced: that it is a weak nation … with a vain, cowardly captain who jumps off the (tragic ocean-liner) Concordia as it sinks… and a cunning government that plays the bully with India.”
A reader of The Repubblica, calling himself just Sal, wrote: “Instead of the two marines, I would have sent Monti, and the defense and foreign ministers to India.”
According to La Repubblica, the mayor of Bari (the hometown of one of the Marines) Michele Emiliano condemned the Rome government.
“I now entrust our two heroes (Marines) to the Indian institutions to protect them. I hope that the Republic of India is less clumsy than the Monti government.’’
Emiliano also wrote on Twitter: “A hypocritical (Italian) government is trying to end its embarrassment by sending the sailors back to India after exhibiting them as ‘free’ during the election campaign.”
