‘For fair process’: Supreme Court transfers to Assam all Manipur violence cases probed by CBI

The ethnic clashes in Manipur which began early May have so far claimed over 150 lives and driven thousands to relief camps.

Security forces have been deployed in Manipur where ethnic tension still persists | Suraj Singh Bisht | ThePrint

New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Friday transferred all cases of Manipur violence being probed by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) to Assam, underscoring “the need for ensuring a fair process of criminal justice administration”.

The top court asked the chief Justice of the Gauhati Hgh Court to designate courts to handle these cases, which have been transferred to the Central Bureau of Investigation.

The bench said applications for remand, extension of custody, issuance of warrant etc could be made virtually by the CBI before these desginated courts.

The bench of Chief Justice D.Y. Chandrachud, Justices J.B. Pardiwala and Manoj Misra further said the victims and witnesses will be at liberty to give evidence virtually from Maniour, instead of travelling to Assam.

The court also directed the Manipur government to maintain proper Internet facilities to allow these video conferences with Assam courts.

The judges also clarified that its order would not prevent those who wished to physically appear in Guwahati courts.

The bench passed these instructions on the suggestions of Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, on behalf of the Manipur state. Concerns were raised about Maniour judges, who belonged to a particular community and security threat to the accused.

Mehta said Assam had been chosen because the “maximum connectivity” was in the state.

The slew of directions passed by the apex court include:

• The chief justice of the Gauhati High Court has been asked to nominate one or more officers above the rank of Judicial Magistrate First Class and sessions judge to deal with such trial cases.
• All applications for the production of the accused, remand, judicial custody, extension of custody, and other proceedings are allowed to be conducted on online mode, bearing in mind both distance and security issues at the courts that will be designated to conduct the trial.
• Judicial custody shall be permitted in Manipur.
• The statement of witnesses under Section 164 of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC) is permitted to be recorded in the presence of a local magistrate in Manipur. The Acting Chief Justice of the Manipur High Court shall designate one or more magistrates for this.
• Test identification parades can be conducted through video conferencing in the presence of a Manipur-based magistrate.
• Applications for search and arrest warrants will be issued by the investigating officer through the online mode.
• The Chief Justice of the Gauhati High Court shall nominate judges who are conversant with one or more languages spoken in Manipur to deal with the criminal trial.

Manipur has been beset by ethnic clashes between the hill Kuki tribes and the valley-based Meiteis since early May, resulting in the deaths of over 150 people and displacing thousands.

On Friday, the top court continued to hea a batch of petitions on the violence, including that against two Kuki women who were seen in a video being paraded naked and molested by a gang of men.