The Supreme Court, during a hearing on Monday, has taken the initiative to restore confidence in the rule of law in violence-stricken Manipur. Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud has announced that a committee comprising three former women High Court judges will be appointed to investigate and implement humanitarian measures such as relief, compensation, and rehabilitation.
The committee, headed by former Jammu and Kashmir High Court Chief Justice Gita Mittal, includes retired judges Asha Menon from Kerala and Shalini P Joshi from Pune. In addition to the judicial panel overseeing relief and rehabilitation efforts, senior police officers will supervise the investigation in criminal cases probed by the state Special Investigation Teams (SITs).
The Manipur government has proposed setting up SITs at the district level, headed by superintendents of police, to investigate sensitive cases, while the CBI will handle 11 cases. Manipur DGP Rajiv Singh appeared before the court to answer queries on the ethnic violence and actions taken by the administration, along with case segregation for effective investigation.
Attorney General R Venkataramani and Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, representing the Centre and the state government, respectively, submitted a report requested by the apex court on issues, including case segregation. The government’s handling of the situation has been acknowledged as mature.
On August 1, the Supreme Court had expressed concern over the breakdown of law and order in Manipur and summoned the DGP to address queries on the tardy investigation of incidents of ethnic violence, especially those against women. The Centre suggested transferring 11 out of 6,523 FIRs related to violence against women and children to the CBI.
The court is currently hearing around 10 petitions related to the violence, seeking court-monitored probes and measures for rehabilitation, among other reliefs. A detailed order will be uploaded on the apex court website later today.
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