New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Monday directed several measures to be taken in violence-torn Manipur to “restore a sense of confidence in the rule of law”.
A top court bench of Chief Justice D.Y. Chandrachud and Justices J.B. Pardiwala and Manoj Misra dictated this course of action while hearing a clutch of petitions over incidents of violence in the northeastern state, including one in which two tribal women were paraded naked and publicly molested.
The bench appointed former IPS officer Dattatray Padsalgikar to supervise the investigation by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and report back to the court. The judges noted that Padsalgikar was “a highly decorated officer” who was also in the National Investigation Agency and went to Nagaland as well.
The court also said five officers of the rank of deputy superintendent of police should be inducted into the CBI team from various states “who will function within the four corners of infrastructure and administrative structure of the CBI”.
It then formed a committee of three former women judges – Justices Gita Mittal, Shalini Joshi and Asha Menon – to supervise the relief and rehabilitation of those affected in Manipur.
The top court’s directives came even after Attorney General R. Venkataramani argued that the state government was handling the situation at a very mature level.
Also present at the hearing was Manipur’s Director General of Police (DGP) Rajiv Singh, who the court had summoned last week to answer its queries about the probe into cases of violence.
The apex court had also observed in the last hearing that there was a complete breakdown of law and order and the constitutional machinery in Manipur. The top court rapped the state police for “tardy” and “lethargic” probes into incidents of ethnic violence, especially those targeting women.
Manipur has seen terrible ethnic clashes between the hill tribes and the valley-based Meiteis since 3 May over the latter’s demand for Scheduled Tribe status that reserves economic benefits for the poorer hill people.
A delegation of the opposition bloc INDIA visited the strife-torn state two weeks ago and submitted a memorandum to Governor Anusuiya Uikey where they blamed Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s “silence” as his “brazen indifference” to the state.
The Opposition has protested vociferously in Parliament since the Monsoon Session started on 20 July, demanding a detailed discussion under Rule 267 on Manipur and a “comprehensive statement” by Modi.
The ruling government, on the other hand, offered a shorter debate and an address by Union Home Minister Amit Shah.
The Opposition then moved a no-confidence motion as “a last resort” to force a debate and a reply from the Prime Minister.
The no-trust debate and vote is scheduled to take place from 8 to 10 August, with Modi’s reply slated for the last day.
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