Putting both the Centre and Manipur government on the mat for the communal and sectarian violence in Manipur going on for the last three months, the Supreme Court on Monday underlined the need to restore faith in the Constitution and rule of law.
In a spate of posers to the Central government on the steps it has taken to curb and control violence, Chief Justice DY Chandrachud, Justice JB Pardiwala and Justice Manoj Misra asked why zero FIR of May 4 incident in which two women were gangraped and paraded naked in the streets of Manipur was registered on May 18 – after 14 days and the subsequent recording of the statement of victims took yet another one month.
Asking the Centre and the Manipur government what they were doing to stop the violence, Chief Justice Chandrachud asked the Attorney General R Venkataramani and Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, “14 days the police take to register the zero FIR. What stood in the way of the police to register the FIR after May 4? What was the reason for not registering the FIR for 14 days.”
Describing as “horrific” the “systemic violence” against women in the ongoing conflict and referring to the reports police handing over the victims to the mobs, the CJI said that the court may set-up an independent and a non-partisan group comprising of women judges, judicial officer and the representatives of the civil society including domain experts which will visit the state in a bid to stop the violence and take confidence building measure.
Sensing trouble, the Centre represented by the AG and SG said “We will get back to the court on this.”
The top court also sought details on the 6000 off FIRs that have been registered so far in Manipur including how many of them are zero FIRs, how many of them relates to violence on women including sexual assault, how many of the accused are in jail and other violence related cases.
As Solicitor General Mehta sought some more time as the number oof cases whose details are to be tabulated are large, CJI Chandrachud said that all these are computerised.
Refusing to give the government more time and directing the listing of the matter on Tuesday (August 1), CJI Chandrachud said: “All this happened in May, we are now in July. All the evidence must have disappeared” and “There’s also a need to restore the faith of the people of Manipur in the Constitution and rule of law.”
One of the petitioners told the bench that those displaced from the hearth and home are being supplied ration by the voluntary organisations from contributions being made by the people.
As both the Attorney General and the Solicitor General objected to it, the CJI said: “If there is a lack of ration, then it is a serious issue. It requires an inquiry.”
On persistent urging by the petitioners seeking handing over the investigation into the assault, gangrape and parading naked the two women and other cases to an independent SIT and opposing entrusting it to CBI, the bench said that it was not just a question of merely handing over to the CBI or SIT, we have to work out the modalities of investigation and recording of the statement of victims including women victims.
In an attempt to assure the court that investigation by the CBI would not be coloured, Attorney General R. Venkataramani said that the investigation be monitored by the top court itself.
As he said that he himself would be monitoring the investigation, senior advocate Kapil Sibal appearing for two women who were gang-raped and paraded naked in the streets said how can Attorney General and the Solicitor General monitor the investigation.
To allay any apprehension that the hearing may go against one community or the other, the CJI assured all parties that all violence would be dealt with even-handedly .
The court was hearing multiple pleas, including one filed by the two women paraded on the streets, which called for among things, court intervention to restore peace in the state and ensure justice. Senior advocate Kapil Sibal appearing for the two women opposed any transfer of trial to the neighbouring state of Assam.
Senior advocates Kapil Sibal, Colin Golsalves, Indira Jaising, advocates Vrinda Grover and Shobha Gupta, urged the court to constitute a “truth and reconciliation” commission to go to Manipur for much needed healing touch and to restore public confidence.
The bench brushed aside attempts to equate the Manipur violence to the violence against women in other Opposition ruled states such as Bengal, Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh.
A petitioner said that the mechanism that will be used in the case of Manipur to deal with the cases of violence against women be used in Bengal, Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh also. Emphatic CJI said that the systemic violence against women during the sectarian strife in Manipur was different from crimes against women.
“Undoubtedly crimes take place against women across the country – that is a social reality. But here we are dealing with something of an unprecedented nature – systemic violence against women in a situation of communal and sectarian strife,” the CJI Chandrachud said.
He further said: “Are you saying we must protect all women or don’t protect anyone? We cannot justify the Manipur incident by saying similar incidents have happened in Bengal.”
As the CJI made clear his intention to set-up a non-partisan group of persons, men and women of impeccable integrity to visit the State, he asked the Centre on the relief package it would offer the state. He said that many things would have to be addressed in the process.