India's Supreme Court Friday ordered the setting up of a special court to decide who had the jurisdiction to try two Italian marines arrested for allegedly shooting dead two fishermen,
news reports said.
The Supreme Court order said India's Kerala state did not have jurisdiction over the marines and a special court should be set up to decide who had jurisdiction, NDTV news channel reported.
The marines, deployed on the Italian oil tanker Enrica Lexie, had allegedly shot the Indian fishermen off the coast of Kerala state on February 15, 2012, after apparently mistaking them for pirates.
The incident led to a diplomatic row between India and Italy with the latter claiming the incident took place in international waters and the case fell outside the jurisdiction of Indian courts.
They challenged in the Supreme Court an order of a Kerala court which had held the two could be tried in India.
The Italians are free on bail but have had to remain in the Kerala port town of Kochi while the trial proceeds. They could face life sentences if found guilty of murder by an Indian court.