The Supreme Court on Wednesday allowed Massimiliano Latorre, one of the two Italian marines accused of killing two fishermen off the coast of Kerala in 2012, to remain in Italy on bail.

In May, the court allowed Sergeant Major Salvatore Girone, the other marine accused in the case to return to Italy on humanitarian grounds till the issue of jurisdiction is decided by an arbitral tribunal.

A bench comprising justices Anil R. Dave, Kurian Joseph and Amitava Roy also asked the centre to submit a status report on the international arbitration proceedings every three months till it is completed.

The court’s orders came in response to a plea filed by the Italian government on 8 September seeking modification of bail conditions imposed on Latorre. The court took into account an affidavit filed by the Indian government that said it does not oppose the Italian government’s request.

The court had allowed Latorre to leave for Italy on bail after he suffered a brain stroke in 2014. Subsequently, his bail has been extended several times.

The Kerala high court had set bail conditions in an order passed on 18 January 2013. The marines were stationed at the Italian embassy in India till they were allowed to visit Italy. An international arbitral tribunal is yet to decide the question of India having jurisdiction over him in the incident.

Latorre and Girone, who were on board the Italian-flagged commercial oil tanker Enrica Lexie, are facing charges of shooting dead two Indian fishermen. The arbitration before the International Tribunal for Law of the Sea in Germany is expected to be completed by December 2018.

The five-member tribunal is currently looking into whether Indian courts or the tribunal would have jurisdiction to look into the issue.

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