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‘Zero-tolerance’: Centre to Supreme Court on Manipur assault video
Manipur video: The Centre submitted in the Supreme Court that it has “zero-tolerance towards any crimes against women”.
Amid criticism over a delay on the part of the Manipur government in bringing ethnic violence in the state under control after a viral video of women being stripped and paraded went viral, the Union government on Thursday submitted in the Supreme Court that it has “zero-tolerance towards any crimes against women” and sought a direction from the top court that the trial in the case be concluded within six months of filing of the charge sheet.
The affidavit also said the case has been transferred to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), and that the trial must be time bound, and should take place outside Manipur.
“The central government considers the offences like the present one to be too heinous which deserve to be taken not only with the seriousness it deserves but justice should be seen to be done so that it has a deterrent effect throughout the nation with respect to crimes against women,” stated the affidavit filed by Union home secretary Ajay Kumar Bhalla.
The affidavit further said that it has been made mandatory for the police station in-charge to immediately report all such cases to the director general of police (DGP) in Manipur.
“To prevent repetition of such incidents, reporting of all such cases to the DGP by the police station in-charge of the jurisdiction has been made mandatory. It is stated that one senior police officer of the rank of superintendent of police (SP) will monitor these investigations under the direct supervision of the DGP.”
Even as maintaining law and order is a State subject, the Centre said, keeping in view the gravity of the incident and in order to ensure that the process of justice is expedited, the Union India is keeping a close watch on the proceedings besides providing requisite assistance towards security.
“Regarding the unfortunate and unacceptable incident of sexual assault and violence on two women in Manipur, it is submitted that Union Home Ministry has been continuously monitoring developments of the case after it came to light,” stated the affidavit.
Bhalla filed his affidavit in response to a suo motu cognisance of the horrific video taken by a bench led by Chief Justice of India Dhananjaya Y Chandrachud on July 20, terming it “deeply disturbing” and “grossest violation of constitutional rights”. Fixing the next hearing on July 28, the court sought explanations from the Union and the state governments and asked them to ensure that such incidents do not recur.
The affidavit pointed out that the N Biren Singh-government wrote to the Centre on Wednesday recommending a CBI probe into the incident, which has been duly approved and sent by the MHA to the department of personnel and training (DoPT).
“The investigation shall thus be transferred to CBI... The central government also believes that not only the investigation should be completed at the earliest, but the trial should also be conducted in a time bound manner which must take place outside the State of Manipur,” said the affidavit, requesting the Supreme Court to pass an order shifting the trial outside the northeastern state.
“The power to transfer the case/trial outside any state is only with this Hon’ble Court and therefore, the central government is making this request to this Hon’ble Court to pass such an order with a further direction to conclude the trial within a period of six months from the date of the filing of charge sheet by CBI,” pleaded the affidavit.
It also said: “There is a proposal for aerial monitoring using drones to prevent any crowd gathering and swift action to disperse the crowds. Video recording of any crowds will be made to ensure that law breakers are apprehended at the earliest. The state government has been advised for trial of the accused by fast-track courts.”
On July 20, the top court said that it is deeply disturbed by the video. “It is simply unacceptable and it is time the government stepped in and took some concrete action. Using women as an instrument in an area of communal strife to perpetuate gender violence is unacceptable. It is the grossest of constitutional abuse,” the bench told attorney general R Venkataramani and solicitor general Tushar Mehta on the day.
Seeking affidavits from the Union home secretary and the state chief secretary, the court said: “This is the grossest of constitutional and human right violation. We will give you little time to take action and bring perpetrators to book...otherwise, we will step in.”
The video of a mob parading and assaulting three women after stripping them two months ago in Manipur surfaced on Wednesday, fanning fresh tension in the state and a nationwide outcry.
According to the first information report (FIR) filed in the case, one of the three women of a family was gang raped while a mob of 800-1000 men killed her brother and father on May 4.
The family of five had fled to a forest to escape the armed mob that entered their village and vandalised houses. Police later rescued the family. The mob surrounded the family and took them from police custody, according to the FIR. The first killed a 56-year-old man on the spot, and then assaulted the three women, the FIR added.
