NEW DELHI — Expressing deep concern over dozens of fatalities in relief centres housing internally displaced persons, the Supreme Court directed the Manipur Chief Secretary on Thursday to submit a comprehensive affidavit detailing the criminal investigations launched, autopsy records, and protective measures enforced to ensure camp residents’ safety.
A bench comprising Chief Justice of India Surya Kant and Justices Joymalya Bagchi and V. Mohana questioned the state administration’s inaction regarding reports from the Justice Gita Mittal committee, which flagged unnatural deaths, including an alleged fatality following a sexual assault. Cautioning the state’s senior bureaucracy, the bench demanded to know why post-mortem examinations were conducted in only 20 out of 34 documented cases, while seeking justification for the meagre compensation sums of 20,000 to 30,000 rupees provided to the victims’ families.
The apex court instructed the Manipur State Legal Services Authority to file an independent status report on the matter, directing the body to oversee that First Information Reports are promptly registered in all cases of unnatural death, investigated expeditiously, and that the fundamental dignity and physical safety of displaced residents remain safeguarded.
During the hearing, the bench expressed confidence that two special courts established exclusively for Central Bureau of Investigation and National Investigation Agency cases stemming from the 2023 ethnic violence will complete proceedings swiftly. The judges noted that case dockets prepared by the state government and Dattatray Padsalgikar, the former police official appointed to monitor the central agency’s probes, have been shared with legal aid counsel to help victims pursue their legal claims.
Appearing for the CBI and the Manipur government, Additional Solicitor General Aishwarya Bhati stated that federal investigators have handled 31 violence-related cases, filing final reports in 28 and maintaining active probes into the remaining three. Apart from the central inquiries, the state established 42 Special Investigation Teams spanning eight districts, which registered 3,020 cases, resulting in 302 chargesheets, 1,583 closure reports, and 1,135 ongoing investigations.
