Manas Dasgupta
NEW DELHI, Aug 31: A constitutional impropriety has arisen in strife-torn Manipur as the session of the state Assembly did not meet on Monday as the governor Anusuiya Uikey did not issue any notification despite the state cabinet’s recommendation.
This comes after 10 Kuki MLAs, cutting across party affiliations, had expressed their inability to attend the Assembly session as violence in the north-eastern State continued unabated.
“For a normal Assembly session, a notification has to be issued 15 days before the beginning of it. No such notification has so far been issued by the Governor’s office,” an official said on Monday. The State Government had, however, asked for the session after a Cabinet meeting held earlier this month.
“The State Cabinet has recommended to the Hon’ble Governor of Manipur for summoning the 4th session of the 12th Manipur Legislative Assembly on the 21st August, 2023,” an official statement had said on August 4. The previous Assembly session was held in March, and violence broke out in the State in May. “The last Assembly session was adjourned sine die in March. It is a constitutional obligation that the next session must be held before September 2,” the official said.
“In view of the prevailing law and order situation, it will not be possible on my part to attend the upcoming session,” LM Khaute, BJP MLA from Churachandpur, one of the worst-hit districts by the ongoing race riots, had said. For good measure, Khaute said violence and the lack of a resolution to demands made by the Kukis for a separate administration “will not make it possible for all the Kuki-Zomi-Hmar MLAs to attend the session.”
Naga MLAs had also said they would not be attending the session as they felt Naga peace talks were being hindered by the State Government. Responding to a media query, Chief Minister N Biren Singh had said the Assembly session would be convened before September 2.
The violence in the State erupted in early May after a ‘Tribal Solidarity March’ was organised in the hill districts to protest against the Meitei community’s demand for Scheduled Tribe (ST) status. Since then more than 160 people have died and several hundreds were injured in ethnic clashes in Manipur.
Meanwhile, a Supreme Court-appointed committee chaired by former Jammu and Kashmir Chief Justice Gita Mittal on Monday said the reconstruction of thousands of essential documents lost or destroyed in the gunfire, arson and violence which has rocked Manipur since May was the first step that needed to be taken to nurse the State back to health.
The committee on Monday filed three separate reports in the Supreme Court after meeting stakeholders on Saturday. The committee headed by Justice Mittal also includes Justices Shalini Phansalkar Joshi and Asha Menon, both former High Court judges.
A Bench headed by the Chief Justice of India D.Y. Chandrachud had entrusted the all-women committee the task of providing the “healing touch” to Manipur by supervising, intervening and monitoring relief and rehabilitation, restoration of homesteads, religious places of worships, etc.” CJI Chandrachud had said the committee, through its work, would endeavour to re-instil the Manipur people’s belief in the rule of law.
“The first of the three reports submitted by the committee highlights the loss of essential documentation of the residents of Manipur who have been dishoused… The committee suggests the appointment of a nodal officer to take charge of the reconstruction of these documents,” CJI Chandrachud had said, after perusing the reports. He said the lost documents include Aadhaar cards, etc. “Benefits are now distributed through the modalities of the Aadhaar card… That is also the link to bank accounts,” CJI Chandrachud observed.
The CJI said the committee’s second report concerned the Manipur Victim Compensation Scheme (MVCS). “The committee says the MVCS needs to be substantially improved,” Chief Justice Chandrachud addressed the lawyers for both the petitioners and the State of Manipur. The Bench said the MVCS should be in the same league as the schemes framed by the National Legal Services Authority.
The committee flagged that a victim of Manipur violence was not even considered eligible for benefits under MVCS if he or she had received welfare from another scheme. The court said there was no such absolute bar in other States. “In other States, if a victim has got benefits under any other scheme, that fact will be taken into consideration while deciding the amount of compensation under this scheme,” Chief Justice Chandrachud remarked.
The CJI said the committee reports identify core areas in which work needed to be done in the State. These included rehabilitation of women victims of violence, comprehensive psychological assistance and mental health care, medical care and health, relief camps, and data reporting and monitoring. The committee said it has also identified domain experts whose help it would require in these fields.
The court posted the case for Friday, saying it would pass certain procedural directions to facilitate the work of the committee in aspects, including administrative assistance (office space, etc), funding, necessary publicity by setting up a web portal, and other infrastructural requirements.