New Delhi: The three-member committee of retired judges set up to look into compensation, mental healthcare and rehabilitation for those impacted by the ethnic clashes in Manipur has submitted three separate reports to the Supreme Court. The apex court was also informed Monday that the committee doesn’t have a place to operate from.
Senior advocate Indira Jaising, while appearing for a petitioner in one of the Manipur violence cases that the court is hearing, told a bench led by Chief Justice of India D.Y. Chandrachud that the committee was facing a space crunch.
The SC took note of the reports submitted by the committee in connection with its assignment. The reports deal with issues like loss of documents of Manipur citizens and compensation for victims, among others.
The all-women panel, set up following a Supreme Court order on 7 August, is headed by former Jammu and Kashmir High Court Chief Justice Gita Mittal, while the other members are Justice Shalini Joshi (retd) of the Bombay High Court and Justice Asha Menon (retd) of the Delhi High Court.
On Monday, Jaising said chairperson Mittal had asked the Chief Justice of the Delhi High Court (Satish Chandra Sharma) whether the panel could utilise the space in the HC allocated to another SC-appointed committee constituted to monitor establishment of vulnerable witness protection courtrooms across India. Justice Mittal heads this committee as well.
At this, Justice Chandrachud said: “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 HC) can be used by her, it would be fine. If not, then the Ministry of Home Affairs can make the required arrangements.”
Of the three reports submitted by the Justice Mittal committee, the first relates to loss of documents of Manipur citizens and highlights the need to reissue essential documents. It says that citizens whose homes were burnt or damaged have lost crucial identity papers such as Aadhaar, and calls for the appointment of a nodal officer to facilitate the revival of the lost documents.
The second report is on compensation for victims. According to the panel, Manipur’s victim compensation scheme needs improvement. It points out that the existing framework excludes victims who have received benefits under other schemes.
The report says the victim compensation scheme should be remodelled on the lines of the National Legal Services Authority compensation policy, which has been approved by the Supreme Court.
The third report pertains to appointment of domain experts to facilitate the panel’s functioning.
During the hearing, the bench also accepted the need to issue procedural directions that would be necessary to provide administrative support to the panel, allocate finances to the committee and also publicise its work.
Jaising advocated the idea of appointing a press relations officer who would issue releases related to the work carried out by the panel, saying no other authority or person should be allowed to speak on its behalf except for an authorised person.
(Edited by Nida Fatima Siddiqui)
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