New Delhi: The Supreme Court said Monday that the process of justice has to reach the doorstep of the two Kuki women who were paraded naked and sexually assaulted in early May in Manipur.
The bench of the chief Justice D.Y. Chandrachud, Justices J.B. Pardiwala and Manoj Misra remarked that “merely entrusting the case” to the Central Bureau of Investigation or a Special Investigation Team would not be enough.
“We have to ensure that the process of justice goes to her doorstep. We are running out of time, three months have gone,” Justice Chandrachud said.
The court called for a broad mechanism to deal with the violence against women in strife-torn Manipur. It also asked how many FIRs had been registered in such incidents in the state since clashes erupted on 3 May.
Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, who appeared for the Centre, told the bench that the Centre had no objection if the apex court monitored the investigation into the Manipur violence.
Justice Chandrachud said there were two ways to form a committee to look into the matter. “We constitute a committee ourselves – a party of women and male judges and domain experts. This is not in terms of just trying to figure out what has happened but we also need to rebuild lives,” he said.
The Chief Justice also said the extent of the Supreme Court’s intervention would depend on what the government had done so far. “If we are satisfied with what the government has done, we may not even intervene,” he added.
The top court bench was hearing a batch of pleas filed on the Manipur violence, which was triggered early May over the majority Meiteis’ demand for Scheduled Tribe status – economic benefits reserved for the tribes in the state’s poorly-developed hill areas.
Last week, the court took suo motu cognisance of the video that showed the two women being paraded naked and molested by a mob from the rival clan. The incident took place on 4 May, a day after the ethnic clashes started, and only recently appeared online since there was a gag on Internet services.
One woman’s father and brother were also shot dead when they objected to the sexual abuse.
The Monsoon Session of Parliament has been near paralysed since it commenced on 20 July over the opposition’s demand for a detailed discussion on Manipur and a “comprehensive statement” on the violence by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Two weeks ago, the apex court said it was “deeply disturbed” by the video, stating that women as instruments for perpetrating violence was “simply unacceptable in a constitutional democracy”.
The bench, headed by the chief justice, directed the Centre and the Manipur government to take immediate remedial, rehabilitative and preventive steps and apprise it of the action taken.
On 27 July, the Centre informed the top court that it had transferred the probe to the CBI, reiterating that the government had “zero tolerance towards any crimes against women”.
During the hearing Monday, the apex court asked why it took the Manipur police 14 days to register a case after the incident took place.
It asked the Manipur government: “What was the police doing? Why was an FIR in the video case transferred to the magisterial court on 24 June?”
The top court then said it did not want the case to be handled by the Manipur Police, adding it was “horrendous” that the women were handed over to the rioting crowd by the police.
The court said time was running out and there was a great need for a “healing touch” in the state.
It then asked the Solicitor General how many Zero FIRs had been registered in Manipur. A Zero FIR prioritises the need of the victim by allowing them to file a complaint at any police station.
It also sought other details from the central and state governments – the package for rehabilitation provided to the affected, the number of arrests made, and the legal aid provided to the victims.
The Chief Justice also snapped at an advocate who highlighted that crimes against women were also taking place in West Bengal and Chhattisgarh.
Justice Chandrachud said one could not justify what happened in Manipur “by saying that this and this happened elsewhere”.
Acknowledging that crimes against women were taking place in West Bengal and other states as well, Justice Chandrachud added: “We are dealing with something of unprecedented magnitude of violence against women in communal and sectarian violence. It cannot be gainsaid that crimes are happening against women and in Bengal also. But here the case is different. We cannot justify what happened in Manipur by saying that this and this happened elsewhere.”
He also made a distinction with the the horrific rape of Nirbhaya, saying: “This is not a situation like Nirbhaya which was one rape committed – that was also horrific but it was isolated. Here we are dealing with systemic violence which IPC recognises as a separate offence. In such a case, is it not important that you should have a specialised team? There is a need in the State of Manipur to have a healing touch. Because the violence is continuing unabated.”
Also read: ‘Govt to discuss Manipur. Opposition trying to misuse liberty given to members’: Piyush Goyal