Italy's contempt not grounds for Supreme Court ruling in marines 'case, Indian experts say
New Delhi (AsiaNews) - The action by the Italian government shows total contempt for India's Supreme Court and constitutes a breach of faith and diplomatic protocol, but India cannot detain the Italian ambassador to Delhi, this according Anup Surendranath and Shreya Rastogi, respectively Assistant Professor of Law and a final year law student at the National Law University in Delhi. They penned an editorial in today's edition of The Hindu, about the case of the two Italian marines currently in Italy but wanted in India in connection with the killing of two fishermen.
After Rome decided to not to send back Massimiliano Latorre and Salvatore Girone, who returned to Italy on an election permit (that will expire this Friday), India took a cautious but firm stance.
On several occasions, External Foreign Minister Salman Kurshid stated that Italy's decision was "unacceptable", noting however that he would wait for the permit to expire before taking any action.
For Sonia Gandhi, "The defiance of the Italian government on the question of the two marines [. . .] and its betrayal of a commitment given to our Supreme Court" are "outright unacceptable".
Following the Italian government's decision, India's Supreme Court imposed restrictions on Italian Ambassador Daniele Mancini. He had signed the affidavit in which Italy pledged that the marines would return to India.
Citing Article 129 of the Indian constitution, the Supreme Court ruled that Mr Mancini was in contempt of court because of his government's decision not to return the marines to India.
However, for Surendranath and Rastogi, the Court does not have the legal right to hold Ambassador Mancini who has absolute diplomatic immunity under the 1961 Vienna Convention on diplomatic relations, which India ratified in 1969.
Article 29 of the Vienna Convention states that in fact "a diplomatic agent shall be inviolable" and is not "liable to any form of arrest or detention. The receiving State shall treat him with due respect and shall take all appropriate steps to prevent any attack on his person, freedom or dignity."
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