Italian Marine case: Parikkar hits out at Pinarayi

Hitting out at Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan for blaming Centre on the Italian marines issue, Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar today said the CPM veteran "should have been more rational" as there was no point to score immediately.

Parrikar said Vijayan should have raised the matter with the Union Home Ministry or Ministry of External Affairs who deal with the matter.

"He (Vijayan) should have been more rational because the elections are just over. There is nothing to immediately score a point," the Defence Minister told reporters here.

He (Vijayan) should have been more rational because the elections are just over. There is nothing to immediately score a point

On May 26, Vijayan had blamed Centre's "wrong response" for the Supreme Court's decision to relax Italian marine Salvatore Girone's bail conditions and permitting him to leave for his country.

A "big foul play" had been done by the Centre right from the beginning in the case, he had said.

"It is here (in Kerala) that the examination and trial has to be held. But a big foul play has been done in this case right from the beginning by the Centre. We were against the Centre's approach before also and we had strongly criticised it," Vijayan had said.

The Supreme Court on May 26 relaxed the bail conditions of Salvatore Girone, one of the two Italian marines accused of killing two fishermen off Kerala coast in 2012, and allowed him to go to his country till an International Arbitral Tribunal (IAT) decides the jurisdictional issue between India and Italy.