Satya Prakash

New Delhi, August 7

The Supreme Court on Monday appointed former Maharashtra DGP Dattatray Padsalgikar to oversee the probe into Manipur ethnic violence cases and report back to ensure the investigation was carried out properly.

Allows shifting of 11 abuse cases to CBI

• SC allows transfer of 11 cases of sexual violence to CBI
• 5 DSP/SP-rank officers from other states to ensure ‘objectivity’
• Officers will function within administrative setup of CBI

A three-judge Bench led by CJI DY Chandrachud also appointed a “broad-based committee” of three retired women high court judges, led by former Chief Justice of the Jammu and Kashmir High Court Justice Gita Mittal, to look into diverse aspects of humanitarian nature in the ethnic violence-hit state.

DIG-rank officers to supervise 42 SITs

• 42 SITs will look into cases not transferred to CBI, says SC
• Will be supervised by six DIG-rank officers from other states
• At least 1 inspector from other states to be part of each SIT

The committee — which will also include Justice Asha Menon, a former Delhi High Court judge, and former Bombay High Court judge Shalini Phansalkar Joshi — will look into relief, rehabilitation, remedial measures, restoration of homes and places of worship.

The directions were intended to “restore a sense of faith in the rule of law and build a sense of confidence”, it said.

Congress brass meets state leaders

Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge, parliamentary party chairperson Sonia Gandhi and former chief Rahul Gandhi met party’s leaders, including ex-CM O Ibobi Singh, from Manipur and discussed the situation in the violence-hit state.

The Bench — which also included Justice JB Pardiwala and Justice Manoj Misra — said a formal order would be released later.

While allowing the transfer of 11 cases of sexual violence to the CBI, the top court said it would depute five DSP/SP-rank officers from other states to ensure there is a sense of “faith” and “objectivity”. These officers will function within the administrative setup of the CBI, it added.

Regarding cases not transferred to the CBI, the top court said 42 special investigation teams (SITs) would look into these. The SITs would be supervised by six DIG-rank officers from other states to ensure the investigations were carried out properly.

As ordered, Manipur DGP Rajiv Singh appeared before the top court. In addition, the state Chief Secretary was also present during the hearing, Solicitor General Tushar Mehta told the Bench.

At the outset, Attorney General R Venkataramani said: “The government is handling the situation on a very mature level… Today the position is still sensitive and any externally directed investigation doesn’t inspire confidence.” He suggested that sexual violence cases should be investigated by a team comprising only female officers.

Before indicating the broader points of its directions, the Bench heard senior counsels Indira Jaising, Colin Gonsalves, Manindar Singh and Ranjit Kumar; and advocates Vrinda Grover, Prashant Bhushan and Nizam Pasha on various aspects of the problem, including illegal immigration and poppy cultivation and last rites of bodies kept in Imphal hospitals.

A lawyer from Manipuri said: “Today, we are in the limelight for wrong reasons. For nearly 90 days nobody came out for us and when a video became viral, everybody was talking about it… Everybody was concentrating on one incident. I request this court to control what is going on in Manipur.”

Stating “we are all suffering”, he said people sitting in AC rooms in Delhi didn’t know the reality of the situation in Manipur. “I request all advocates to come to Manipur and stay there for a night… Then you will know ground reality.”