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Loss of key documents by Manipur violence victims must be looked into: SC
The Supreme Court on Monday agreed to address the plight of the victims of the ethnic clashes in Manipur who have lost identity proofs and are in dire need of adequate compensation to rebuild their lives.
The Supreme Court on Monday agreed to address the plight of the victims of the ethnic clashes in Manipur who have lost identity proofs and are in dire need of adequate compensation to rebuild their lives, as it mulled over issuing necessary directions on the reports received from a high-powered committee comprising three retired women high court judges.
A bench, headed by Chief Justice of India Dhananjaya Y Chandrachud, took judicial note of the three reports submitted by the panel, appointed by it on August 7 that visited the strife-torn state and reported back on the efficacy of rescue, relief and rehabilitation measures. Two of these reports were submitted by the panel on August 17 while the last one was forwarded on August 19.
The bench, which also comprised justices JB Pardiwala and Manoj Misra, opened the confidential reports submitted by the committee during the course of the hearing on Monday and flagged the concerns raised therein.
The CJI pointed out that one of the three reports adduced by the committee, which comprises justices Gita Mittal (former chief justice of the Jammu & Kashmir high court), Shalini P Joshi (former Bombay high court judge) and Asha Menon (former Delhi high court judge), highlighted loss of identity documents by several persons affected by the violence. “This report calls for assistance in reconstruction of important documents such as Aadhaar cards etc for such citizens,” recorded the court order.
Another report, the bench said, called for the Manipur victim compensation scheme to be improved and updated, bearing in mind the scheme framed by the National Legal Services Authority (NALSA). “For instance, the Manipur victim compensation scheme states that if benefits under other schemes have been received by a victim, no benefit shall be provided to such a person under the Manipur scheme,” said the bench.
The panel’s third report proposed the appointment of domain experts to streamline the administrative aspects of the case proceedings. Pointing out that the committee had bifurcated the cases under several heads such as compensation, violence against women, health care, mental health, relief camps, data reporting and monitoring, the bench said that the reports will be shared with all the lawyers in the case so that they could assist the court in the issuance of necessary directives on August 25 when the matter will be taken up next.
According to the status report adduced by the Manipur government in the court on August 1, the state witnessed more than 5,100 incidents of arson, which included use of explosive substances in destroying houses. Around 57,000 people were housed in as many as 361 relief camps as on the date, this report added.
The bench further noted that certain procedural directions were required in the matter to provide for requisite administrative assistance; funding to meet financial expenses of the committee; necessary publicity by setting up a work portal and some other infrastructure changes.
‘Suggestions in that regard may be collated by Ms Vrinda Grover (one of the lawyers in the natter) in due consultation with the committee, which shall be shared with the advocate general of Manipur by Thursday morning. List the matter on Friday,” stated the court order.
Senior advocate Indira Jaising, who was also appearing in the matter for one of the applicants, requested the bench to permit the committee to have the power to lay down their own procedure. She added that the members of the committee did not have a place to sit, and that justice Mittal had requested the Delhi high court chief justice to allot the panel a place.
Responding, the CJI said that he would see to it that the panel has a place to sit in Delhi. “I will have a word with justice Mittal and the chief justice of the Delhi high court. If the Vulnerable Deposition Witness Creation Office in the high court can be used by her, it would be fine. If not, then the Ministry of Home Affairs can make the required arrangements,” justice Chandrachud added.
By its order on August 7, the Supreme Court decided to monitor investigations into all cases of violence during the ethnic clashes in Manipur and further ordered the setting up of the high-powered committee.
Deciding to keep an eye on the steps taken by the Centre and the Manipur government to quell the sectarian clashes that have claimed at least 150 lives since May 3, the CJI-led bench said on the day that the court-mandated layers of scrutiny will usher in “objectivity in investigation”, “a sense of faith” and “rule of law”.
The court put Dattatray Padsalgikar, former deputy national security adviser and ex-director general of police (DGP) of Maharashtra, in charge of overseeing the investigation to be carried out by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) into 11 cases of crimes against women that the Centre conceded will be probed by the federal agency.
One of these cases related 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 (on its own) cognisance, and the subsequent hand over of the case to CBI by the Centre on July 28.
The August 7 order tasked the high-powered committee with enquiring into the nature of violence against women and ensuring physical and psychological well-being of those housed in the relief camps, besides the payment of damages to the victims.
Clashes between the Kukis and 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. 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. At least 155 people have been killed in the violence.
