New Delhi, Sept 8: The Supreme Court today sought the Centre’s view on Italy’s plea to permit one of the two marines accused of killing two Kerala fishermen in 2012 to return home for health reasons.

Massimiliano Latorre, who has been staying at the Italian embassy in New Delhi with co-accused Salvatore Girone as the duo await trial, was hospitalised recently with a brain stroke.

The external affairs ministry today said it would not oppose the marine’s petition.

“On humanitarian grounds, we will not challenge that petition,” foreign minister Sushma Swaraj said. “If the Supreme Court accepts the petition, we are okay with it.”

Senior counsel K.T.S. Tulsi appearing for the Italian government told a bench of Chief Justice R.M. Lodha, and Justices Kurien Joseph and R.F. Nariman that Latorre suffered a brain stoke on August 31 and needed medical treatment.

He pleaded that the marine be permitted to return home for adequate treatment and emotional support from his wife and family members.

Additional solicitor-general P.S. Narasimha has sought time till Friday to file his response to the plea.

Latorre and Girone have been held in India since allegedly shooting to death two fishermen during an anti-piracy mission in February 2012 off the Kerala coast in an incident that sparked diplomatic tensions between New Delhi and Rome.

The marines, deployed on the Italian-flagged oil tanker MT Enrica Lexie, have said they mistook the fishermen for pirates.

The foreign office’s decision to allow the marine to return to Italy signals a thaw in the taut relations between New Delhi and Rome since the shooting.