Manas Dasgupta
NEW DELHI, Aug 1: In scathing remarks against the government over the ethnic violence, the Supreme Court on Tuesday viewed the situation in Manipur as of “an absolute breakdown of the constitutional machinery” for the past two months.
Terming the investigation “tardy” and “lethargic”, Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud, who is heading the bench, said there had 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 Manipur government’s status report on 6,523 FIRs points to an absolute breakdown of the constitutional machinery in the State since ethnic violence broke out at the beginning of May,” the Supreme Court said.
“This shows that from the beginning of May till the end of July, there was an absolute breakdown of constitutional machinery. There was no law in the State… a complete breakdown of law and order. If law and order cannot protect citizens, where are we left?” Chandrachud heading a three-judge Bench, asked the Manipur government, represented by Solicitor-General Tushar Mehta.
The Supreme Court directed the Manipur Director General of Police to be personally present in the Court on August 7 at 2 p.m, adding that he should be in a position to answer the questions of the Court. In its order, the Court said on prima facie analysis, the police investigation into the cases was “tardy”. There was a “considerable lapse of time” between the occurrence of the incidents and the registration of FIRs and recording of witness statements. Arrests were “few and far between”, the Bench noted.
The Supreme 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.
The bench comprised Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud, Justice JB Pardiwala and Justice Manoj Misra. Earlier in the day, the victims of the incident of being paraded naked filed a fresh plea in Supreme Court. In addition to their request for identity protection, the survivors reportedly submitted a supplementary application in conjunction with the FIR regarding the sexual assault incident that occurred on 4 May,
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 to the court.
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. Justice Chandrachud asked whether the policemen accused of handing over the women to the mob have been interrogated, to which Mehta said it may not be possible to get the information overnight.
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 in one night and there may be some errors in the data, 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.
When Mehta surmised that the police may have been restricted as the situation in the State on the ground was not “conducive,” the CJI asked, “From May 4 to July 27, the picture is clear that the police were not in charge… Was the situation so not conducive that even FIRs could not be registered? Except for one or two cases, there are no arrests at all. The investigation was so lethargic… FIRs were registered in many cases after only two months. Statements were not recorded… 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 the centre was open to transferring all 11 FIRs to the CBI.
Noting that there have been 150 deaths in Manipur since the violence broke out on May 3, the CJI said the material provided to the court was inadequate. “State must carry out the exercise of break-up of FIRs, how many FIRs concern murder, rape, arson, looting, outraging modesty, destruction of places of religious worship and grievous hurt,” he said.
The hearing saw the Court peruse the status report prepared overnight by the State government. The Court found a case in which a mother was dragged out of her car and lynched, along with her son, by a mob on May 4. The FIR was registered only on July 23.
The Court noted another case in which a man was “done to death” and his house set on fire. Again, the FIR was registered two months later. In another case, the CCTV footage was found to be “auto-deleted” by the time the investigators began their job.
The State government’s status report said there had been 150 deaths, including 59 deaths between May 3 and May 5. Another 28 people lost their lives between May 27 and May 29. Thirteen more died in the violence on June 9. The report showed that 502 people were injured in the clashes. There were 5,101 cases of arson. It said that 252 people had been arrested, with another 1,274 arrested as a preventive measure.
The report said a preliminary examination of the 6,523 cases show that 11 FIRs involved crimes against women and children, though this was subject to further verification. Seven arrests have been made in these 11 cases.
Mehta said the Centre, with the consent of the Manipur government, was willing to transfer these 11 FIRs to the CBI as an immediate measure. Senior advocate Jaideep Gupta said there was a twelfth FIR of a woman burnt alive, while advocate Nizam Pasha, representing the Zomi Students Federation, said five FIRs highlighted by him were not among the 11 in the list presented by the Solicitor-General. Senior advocate Colin Gonsalves said there was another case where a young boy had been beheaded.
The Court said the information provided by the State in the current status report was “inadequate,” with Chief Justice Chandrachud noting that the FIRs have not been “disaggregated.” “You have not said how many of these cases involve murder or rape, arson and looting, destruction of house and property, destruction of religious worship, grievous hurt, etc.,” the Court addressed the State government.
The court then ordered the Director General of Police to be present during the next hearing on August 7 and asked him to have the following information ready on each of the FIRs: date of occurrence of incident; date of registration of Zero FIR; date of registration of regular FIR; date on which witness statements were recorded; date on which statements under Section 164 of the Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC) were recorded; and date on which arrests were made.
“There are about 6,500 cases. We want to see the serious cases. You can’t transfer everything to the CBI. We have to put a mechanism in place,” the CJI said. The Court asked how over 6,000 cases could be single-handedly probed by the CBI, with the Chief Justice noting that the burden of probing so many cases may leave the CBI itself “dysfunctional.” Justice Chandrachud said the court may think of constituting a committee of former high court judges. “We are just thinking out loud so there are no surprises,” he said.
The Manipur issue has also led to a logjam in Parliament, with both Houses being repeatedly adjourned since the monsoon session began on July 20.
