The court was hearing a petition filed by the Italian government and its two marines, challenging the May 29 order of the Kerala high court, which had held that the duo were liable to be tried by an Indian court.
The petitioners have also sought a stay on all further criminal proceedings in the case pending before a Kollam court contending that the Kerala Police had no authority to conduct the probe and courts in India have no jurisdiction as the incident occurred outside the Indian territorial waters.
The case pertains to the killings of two Indian fishermen by two Italian naval officers on board 'Enrica Lexie'. Fearing a pirate attack, the two officers had allegedly fired at the fishermen's vessel off Kerala coast, killing two of them.
The marines, who were arrested by the Kerala police, are currently out on bail.
The Italian government has contended that only the Military Court in Rome has the jurisdiction to prosecute the accused officers as only the Republic of Italy and its institutions (military and judicial) have the authority to deal with any inquiry and consequential legal proceedings against them.
Besides raising the issue of jurisdiction, the Italian government had also argued that marines, who were on the ship to protect it, also enjoy functional autonomy as they were military officers.
According to the petition, the military officials, while protecting the Italian vessel from a pirate attack, allegedly fired upon a fishing boat at 20.5 nautical miles in international waters due to which the two occupants of the boat lost their lives. The Indian territorial waters extend up to 12 nautical miles.
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