Kerala Chief Minister Oommen Chandy has said the two Italian marines who fled the country would be brought to justice and subjected to the law of the land.
He said this while replying to an adjournment motion on the issue piloted by the Opposition in the State Assembly here on Monday.
HAM-HANDED APPROACH
P.K. Gurudasan of the CPM alleged that the State and Central Governments had adopted a ham-handed approach, leading to a situation in which the marines gave the authorities the slip and flew out of the country.
This could not have happened without the complicity of and foul play at the higher levels. The whole episode has showed the country and the Government in a poor light and severely dented its self-respect.
But the Chief Minister countered the allegation saying that the statement of the Prime Minister in Parliament sent out a strong message to Italy and the world at large.
Both the State and the Central Governments had taken what Chandy described as the most appropriate and principled stand in the matter.
When the marines wanted to visit their country to vote in the general elections, counsel for the State Government had argued that they should stay back and exercise their franchise through postal vote.
But the Italian ambassador used his diplomatic credentials to get them a chance to fly back home and take part in the elections.
On the basis of the Chief Minister’s reply, Speaker G. Karthikeyan refused leave for the adjournment motion, which prompted the Opposition to stage a walkout.