SC panel cites ‘worrying’ happenings in Manipur
The Supreme Court on Monday asked AttorneyGeneral R. Venkataramani to take instructions from the government on a report submitted by the courtappointed Justice Gita Mittal committee highlighting recent “worrying” happenings in Manipur, which had been rocked by violence in May 2023.
The committee was formed to oversee relief activities in the strifehit State.
In a separate order, a threejudge Bench, headed by Chief Justice of India D.Y. Chandrachud, also sought status reports from the Manipur government, the CBI, and the National Investigation Agency with respect to their investigations of cases connected to the violence of last year.
“We want to know how many cases are ripe for trial,” Chief Justice Chandrachud said.
The Bench said it had received a communication from the Special Judge in charge of the CBI and NIA cases in Assam, who was nominated by the Gauhati High Court to conduct all proceedings in connection with the probe of the cases relating to the Manipur violence, asking whether the trial in the cases should also be conducted in Assam.
On August 25 last year, the Supreme Court had ordered the court proceedings related to the probe of some of the Manipur violence cases be
Assam.
During the hearing, senior advocate Vibha Makhija, representing the Justice Mittal committee, highlighted contents in the report about “all relief activities having stopped”, “protests becoming armed protests”, “Deputy Commissioner’s office burnt down along with relief materials”, and sightings of “worrying public notices”.
Mr. Venkataramani said some cases related to incidents of violence had been handed over to the CBI. shifted to