Case against Italian Marines to be closed after ₹10 crores from Republic of Italy is received in Supreme Court account

The Supreme Court on Friday said that the amount of ₹ 10 crores agreed to be paid by Republic of Italy as compensation for killing two Indian fishermen off Kerala coast should be deposited with the Government of India and thereafter transferred to the Supreme Court's account. .The case against the two Italian marines, who shot dead the Indian fishermen, will be closed only after the amount reaches the account of the Supreme Court, the top court said. ."We will ask for the amount to be deposited in this court. Only then we will close the proceedings," the Bench headed by Chief Justice of India, SA Bobde stated. .The direction came after the Italian government informed the apex court that a total amount of ₹10 crore would be paid in terms of the award by the International Tribunal.."Republic of Italy states amount of compensation in terms of award passed on May, 2020, will be paid by Italy to India in the particular account specified by MEA. We direct that after such transfer the said amount be deposited in Supreme Court within one week thereafter," the Court ordered. .The matter will now be heard next on April 19, 2021. .Solicitor-General Tushar Mehta, representing the Central government, submitted that "Indians are the best negotiators" and that India has "negotiated a good deal". "They have paid 10 crores more. Victims have accepted it now," said SG Mehta. .Eight months ago, the Centre had informed the apex court about its decision to “accept and abide” by an international tribunal’s award that the Marines, Salvatore Girone and Massimiliano Latorre, should be tried in their native Italy..The government had explained that India was bound by the award of the arbitral tribunal formed under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS). The award was “final and without appeal” as India was a party to the UN Convention..Girone and Latorre, who were detailed on the Italian ship ‘Enrica Lexie’, allegedly shot the fishermen thinking they were ‘pirates’.India is entitled to compensation for the loss of life. Its freedom and right of navigation was violated by the Marines, the UN tribunal had held..The tribunal’s finding that the Marines had immunity came seven years after the Supreme Court ordered the Centre to “proceed with the investigation and trial of the Marines” in a decision on January 18, 2013. The apex court had ordered the Centre to set up a Special Court to try the case. Prior to the Supreme Court verdict, the Kerala High Court too had found that the Marines enjoyed no immunity..However, in 2014, the Marines had successfully procured a stay order on the investigation by the National Investigation Agency. A year later, the Supreme Court had stopped its own proceedings to wait the verdict from the International Tribunal on Law of Seas.