Supreme Court: In the closely followed “Enrica Lexie” case, a bench of Prafulla C. Pant and D.Y. Chandrachud, JJ., on Thursday relaxed the bail conditions of Sergeant Major Salvatore Girone, and thereby enabled him to return to Italy until the International Arbitral Tribunal decides the jurisdictional issue between India and Italy. The applicant has also requested the court to direct the Ministry of Home Affairs and the Foreigners Regional Registration Office to provide him with the necessary residential permit and exit visa. Girone’s application was supported by Union of India as well and requested the court to prescribe additional bail conditions.
The Court allowed the application subject to following prescribed conditions: Girone is required to file an undertaking accepting that he remains under Supreme Court’s authority; he shall surrender his passport to Italian authorities and shall not leave Italy; he shall report to the Police Station in Italy on first Wednesday of every month; Italy shall report to India on the first business day of every month from September 2016 about Girone’s situation; and he shall not tamper with any evidence, or influence any witness. Lastly, the court also directed Italian Ambassador to file an undertaking stating that if International Arbitral Tribunal decides in favor of India Sergeant Girone shall be made to return to India within a period of one month. [Massimilano Latore v. Union of India, 2016 SCC OnLine SC 598, decided on 26.05.2016]
