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Manipur govt submits confidential report on recovery of arms in SC
The report will be considered by a bench led by Chief Justice of India Dhananjaya Y Chandrachud on September 25
New Delhi The Manipur government on Friday submitted in the Supreme Court a confidential report on the recovery of arms and ammunition stolen from the police and state armouries in the wake of ethnic clashes between the Meitei and Kuki communities since early May.
The report will be considered by a bench led by Chief Justice of India (CJI) Dhananjaya Y Chandrachud on September 25. Solicitor general Tushar Mehta, representing the state government, told the court that the report has been submitted in a sealed cover, as allowed by the court on September 6.
The bench also comprises justices JB Pardiwala and Manoj Misra.
On that day, the court had observed that the issue of stolen arms and their recovery was “sensitive” and that it must be looked into seriously irrespective of which side is involved. It directed that the report be shared only with the court for now after the state government claimed that publicising the report could lead to “panic”.
Ethnic clashes between the tribal Kukis and dominant Meiteis first erupted on May 3 during a protest against a court-ordered tweak to the state’s reservation matrix, granting Scheduled Tribe status to the latter. The violence quickly engulfed the state where ethnic fault lines run deep, displacing tens of thousands of people who fled burning homes and neighbourhoods into jungles, often across state borders. More than 176 people have been killed in the violence.
Hearing a bundle of petitions that have sought an array of protective and rehabilitative orders, the court on August 25 shifted 27 cases being investigated by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) to a set of designated judges in Assam to ensure protection of victims and witnesses, besides facilitating fair and quick trials.
Of these, 20 cases relate to the offences of rape, molestation and murder of women. One of these cases pertains to a horrific 30-second video clip of two Kuki women being stripped and paraded naked by a mob that prompted the apex court to take suo motu cognisance, and the subsequent hand over of the case to CBI by the Centre on July 28. Among the other seven cases, three are for looting weapons, two for murder, and one case each for rioting and conspiracy.
On August 10, the apex court appointed Dattatray Padsalgikar, former deputy national security adviser and ex-director general of police (DGP) of Maharashtra, to oversee investigations being carried out by CBI as well as by those conducted by the 42 special investigation teams (SITs), constituted by the Manipur government to probe more than 6,500 other first information reports (FIRs) registered in connection with the violence in the northeastern state. He has been given two months to submit a report.
On Friday, senior lawyer Indira Jaising, appearing for one of the petitioners, requested the court to seek a periodical status report from Padsalgikar. The court, however, said that the former top cop must be given some time.
“It will be very early. Let him take complete cession if what is happening. We will give him some time. We will ask for a status report sometime later,” it told Jaising.
During the proceedings, the Manipur government also informed the bench that the Manipur compensation scheme for the victims of violence has been aligned with the scheme framed by the National Legal Services Authority (Nalsa) that provides for a higher quantum of compensation.
On Friday, the court extended a two-week protection from arrest to a social activist booked for alleged hate speech amid ethnic violence in Manipur and directed the state high court to allow him to appear either online or physically through a lawyer for challenging the criminal case against him.
Henminlun alias Loon Gangte, who was booked in the state for making a provocative speech on July 28 and told the top court that it was difficult to find a lawyer to represent him before the high court. Gangte is president of the Delhi Network of Positive People, a network of people living with HIV/AIDS.
