Absolute Breakdown Of Constitutional Machinery In Manipur: Supreme Court
Manipur violence: The court’s comments are likely to give further ammunition to the Opposition
New Delhi:
In scathing remarks against the Manipur government over the violence in the state, the Supreme Court said today that there has been an absolute breakdown of constitutional machinery in the state for the past two months.
Terming the investigation “tardy” and “lethargic”, Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud, who is heading the bench, said there has been a delay in FIRs being registered and statements being recorded. The court has also demanded the personal presence of the Manipur Director General of Police during the next hearing on Monday.
The court’s comments are likely to give further ammunition to the Opposition, which has been demanding the removal of Manipur Chief Minister N Biren Singh and the imposition of President’s Rule in the state.
When the hearing began this afternoon, Solicitor General Tushar Mehta informed the court that 6,523 FIRs related to the violence have been registered, and 11 of these pertain to crimes against women and children. He said the data was part of a status report that he is submitting in the court.
Mr Mehta told the bench that seven people, including a juvenile, have been arrested in the case related to the horrific video of the women who were paraded naked and allegedly gang-raped. The CJI then sought details of another incident in which two women were gang-raped and murdered.
Prefacing his answer with a disclaimer that they had gone through over 6,000 FIRs overnight and there may be some errors in the data, Mr Mehta told the bench that a Zero FIR was registered on May 15 and it was converted into a regular FIR on June 16. When the CJI asked whether any arrests had been made, the Solicitor General said he did not have information on that.
While going through the report submitted by Mr Mehta, the CJI pointed out that an FIR was dated July 26 for an incident which happened on May 4.
“Except for one or two cases, there are no arrests in other cases? The investigation is so lethargic. There has been a delay in filing FIRs, no arrests. For the past two months, has the situation not been conducive for even recording the statements of the victims,” CJI Chandrachud asked.
“The state police is incapable of investigation. They have lost control. There is absolutely no law and order… There has been an absolute breakdown of constitutional machinery in Manipur for the past two months,” an angry Chief Justice said.
The Solicitor General informed the court that 252 people had been arrested so far in connection with the 6,523 FIRs. He assured the CJI that there won’t be any lethargy on the part of the government and said that the centre was open to transferring all 11 FIRs to the CBI.
