Manipur ethnic violence: Supreme Court transfers trial of 27 cases probed by CBI to Assam
Satya Prakash
New Delhi, August 25
The Supreme Court on Friday transferred to Assam the trial of 27 cases of sexual violence relating to Manipur ethnic conflict being probed by the CBI.
A three-judge Bench led by Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud asked the Chief Justice of the Gauhati High Court to designate one or more judicial magistrates and sessions judges in Guwahati to deal with these cases being probed by the CBI.
The victims and witnesses in these cases will be at the liberty to give evidence virtually through video conferencing from their respective place in Manipur, instead of travelling to Assam to be physically present in the designated court in Guwahati.
The directions have been issued “at the present stage, bearing in mind the overall environment in Manipur and the need for ensuring a fair process of criminal justice administration,” the Bench noted.
The top court also directed the Manipur Government to ensure better internet connectivity to facilitate hearing of CBI cases online in Guwahati.
The order came after Solicitor General Tushar Mehta suggested on behalf of the Manipur Government that the trials in the cases under the CBI investigation be transferred to Assam as there were security concerns as also certain apprehensions about judges in Manipur belonging to particular communities. Mehta said he chose Assam for better internet connectivity.
Mehta said when things improve, the designated judge from Guwahati could be asked to sit in Manipur for conducting trial.
Senior counsel Colin Gonsalves opposed the transfer of CBI cases to Manipur and suggested that instead, these cases should be shifted to Mizoram. Senior counsel Indira Jaising suggested that these cases could be transferred to Meghalaya.
As Gonsalves said trials should happen in hills in Manipur, the CJI said, “There have been victims in the valley and in hills. It would be difficult for people who suffered in the valley to travel to hills, and the other way round. We are not on… who suffered more…just the practical difficulty.”
The Bench went on to request the Gauhati High Court Chief Justice to nominate one or more Chief Judicial Magistrates/Sessions Judges in Guwahati conversant in one or more languages of Manipur.
It said, “All applications for the production of accused, remand, judicial custody, extension of custody and other proceedings in connection with the investigation are allowed to be conducted in the online mode bearing in mind both the security and distance issues.”
The judicial custody of the accused, when granted, shall be permitted in the state of Manipur to obviate transit and the statements of witnesses under Sect 164 of CrPc are permitted to be recorded in the presence of a local Magistrate in Manipur, or as the case may be, the place where the witnesses reside outside Manipur, it ordered.
The top court also asked the Acting Chief Justice of Manipur to designate Magistrates for these purposes. The test identification parades would take place in the presence of a Manipur-based Magistrate and applications such as arrest and warrant would be made through the online mode, it added.
The Bench said it will pass “certain procedural directions” on September 1 to facilitate smooth functioning of the three member all-women panel led by former Jammu and Kashmir High Court Chief Justice Gita Mittal which is mandated to oversee relief and rehabilitation in the ethnic violence-hit state.
In three separate reports submitted to the top court on Monday, the panel highlighted the need for reconstruction of identity documents, upgradation of compensation and appointment of domain experts to facilitate its functioning.
