It's Centre's responsibility to bring back marines: Chandy

New Delhi (PTI): Amid anger back home, Kerala Chief Minister Oommen Chandy on Wednesday met Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to press that the Centre should act to bring back for trial the two Italian marines who are accused of killing two fishermen. Terming Italy's decision not to send back its marines as a "diplomatic tragedy", he said they should not escape under the garb of diplomatic status and it is the responsibility of the Centre to ensure their return to stand trial here. A Chandy, whose Congress-led UDF government came under attack from Opposition over handling of the issue, was critical of Italy, saying it used diplomacy as a "weapon to cheat" another nation's apex court and "shield" the killers. "There will be no compromise on this issue. The marines should be tried under Indian law. Diplomatic status should not be used as a weapon to cheat another nation's apex judiciary. It should not be used as a means to shield the killers. "No nation can agree with it. World will stand by India on this issue. That is why I am telling that Italy's stand on this issue is a diplomatic tragedy," he said. The chief minister, who also discussed the issue with Congress chief Sonia Gandhi, said it is the time for the Centre to act. He said it is not only Kerala's issue but a question of the country's "prestige and sovereignty". A Asked if it was the Centre's responsibility to bring them back to India, Chandy shot back, "What is the doubt in it?" Reacting to a question whether the Supreme Court has "erred" in allowing them to go to Italy to cast their votes, he said, "I am not going to find any fault. What next is the specific agenda."

Salve withdraws as counsel for Italian marines New Delhi (PTI): "Insulted" and "shocked" by Italy's stand on the marines issue, senior Supreme Court advocate Harish Salve has quit as counsel for the Italian government in the fishermen killing case. Salve has said that now it is "a question of Indian prestige" and the government will be "justified" in the tough steps it takes in the matter after the Italian government refused the return of two marines, charged with killing of two Indian fishermen last year. "I am an Indian first and then a senior counsel and after that comes my duty to my client and I feel insulted...I feel that first of all we are officers of court and secondly in a matter like this, the client has to take you into confidence and if the client does not have confidence in you, I think we owe it to the system not to continue," he said.

BJP questions UPA Govt's Italian connection New Delhi (PTI): The BJP on Wednesday said there was a history behind the "special indulgence" to the two Italian marines and hoped that Prime Minister Manmohan Singh would walk the talk after taking a tough stand on the issue. Deputy Leader of BJP in Rajya Sabha Ravi Shankar Prasad said there are 2,020 foreign convicts in jails across India and 3,601 foreigners undergoing trials but allowing any of them to go home for festivals is unheard of. "Why this special indulgence to Italian marines?... Soon after they were arrested in Kerala, the entire government was at their beck and call... There is a history of Italian connections and of the government of India bending backwards," Prasad said, adding that this was seen in the case of Bofors scam accused Ottavio Quattrochi.

'Don't link marines with Quattrocchi'

The Congress on Wednesday scoffed at the Opposition's attempts to link Italy's refusal to send back its two marines with India's failure in getting the extradition of Bofors scam accused Ottavio Quattrocchi in the past saying both are different cases.