The Supreme Court on Friday directed the CBI to file a status report within two weeks on its probe into 11 FIRs linked to the 2023 ethnic violence in Manipur, and asked the Centre and the state government to implement recommendations made by a court-appointed rehabilitation panel.
A bench of Chief Justice Surya Kant and Justice Joymalya Bagchi said the monitoring of trials and related proceedings could be entrusted to the Manipur High Court, the Gauhati High Court, or both, instead of continued supervision by the apex court.
The court also stressed the need to ensure implementation of the recommendations of the Justice Gita Mittal committee, which was set up to oversee relief, rehabilitation and welfare measures for victims of the violence. The panel has submitted multiple reports on steps required for rehabilitation.
The violence, which broke out on May 3, 2023 following a ‘Tribal Solidarity March’ in the hill districts against the Meitei community’s demand for Scheduled Tribe status, has left over 200 people dead, several hundred injured and thousands displaced.
During the hearing, senior advocate Vrinda Grover, appearing for a woman victim who recently died, sought substitution of her mother as a party and alleged that the CBI did not inform the victim about the filing of a chargesheet in her rape case. She said the woman died last month due to illness allegedly linked to trauma after being gang-raped.
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“I have accessed the trial court report… The main accused are not appearing. The CBI is not present… The casualness with which it is happening is shocking,” Grover submitted.
Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, appearing for the Centre, said, “Nobody can oppose what Grover is saying. The victim's rights cannot be affected.”
The bench said either the Manipur High Court or the Gauhati High Court could monitor the trials and asked counsel to seek instructions on evolving a coordination mechanism between the two courts. It also directed that victims be provided free legal aid and observed that if local legal aid counsel were unavailable due to earlier tensions, lawyers from the Guwahati bar could assist.
Senior advocate Colin Gonsalves said rehabilitation efforts had stalled and that copies of the 27 reports filed by the committee were not available to stakeholders. The court, however, expressed concern over the sensitive nature of the material and suggested redaction where necessary.
The matter has been listed for further hearing on February 26.
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