Manipur, 2 August 2023: The Manipur government’s status report on 6,523 FIRs indicates that since ethnic violence broke out at the start of May, there has been an “absolute breakdown of the constitutional machinery” in the State, the Supreme Court stated on Tuesday.
“This demonstrates that there was a complete collapse of the constitutional machinery from the beginning of May until the end of July. In the State, no laws existed. a total loss of control over law and order. Where are we left if law and order are unable to safeguard the populace?” A three-judge bench led by Chief Justice of India D.Y. Chandrachud questioned the Manipur administration, which was represented by Solicitor General Tushar Mehta.
The Manipur Director General of Police was ordered by the Supreme Court to appear in person on August 7 at 2 p.m. He was further instructed to be prepared to respond to the Court’s inquiries.
Slow investigations- only a few arrests were made.
According to the Court’s order, the police investigation into the cases was “tardy” at least initially. Between the incidents’ occurrence and the filing of FIRs and the recording of witness statements, “considerable lapse of time” occurred. The Bench stated that arrests were “few and far between”.
Mr. Mehta speculated that the police may have faced limitations since the actual state of affairs was not “conducive”.
“The picture is clear that the cops were not in charge from May 4 to July 27… Was the environment so unfavorable that even FIRs could not be filed? There are no arrests at all, with the exception of one or two incidents. The investigation was moving so slowly. In several instances, FIRs were filed within just two months. None of the statements were recorded.” Observed by Chief Justice Chandrachud.
The court stated that the CBI may become “dysfunctional” if it is required to investigate more than 6,500 cases on its own. In reality, barely two hours before the scheduled court hearing at 2 p.m., the top court stopped a CBI team from recording the testimony of the rape survivors in the Thoubal case at midday.
FIRs were filed months afterward.
The status report that the State administration had compiled overnight was reviewed by the Court during the hearing. The Court discovered an instance in which, on May 4, a mother and her kid were both lynched by a mob after being pulled from their car. A FIR was only filed on July 23.
Another instance of a man being “done to death” and having his home set on fire was mentioned by the court. The FIR was once more filed two months later. Another instance revealed that the CCTV tape had been “auto-deleted” by the time the investigators started their work.
According to the State government’s status report, there were 150 fatalities, including 59 between May 3 and May 5. From May 27 to May 29, another 28 persons passed away. In the riots on June 9, thirteen additional people perished.
According to the report, disputes resulted in 502 injuries. There were 5,107 arson incidents. According to the report, 252 persons had been detained, while 12,740 more had been detained prophylactically.
Transferring 11 FIRs to the CBI
Preliminary analysis of the 6,523 cases filed between May 3 and July 30 revealed 11 FIRs involving crimes against women and children, according to the report, albeit this was still pending additional verification. These 11 cases have resulted in 7 arrests.
According to Mr. Mehta, the Centre was willing to immediately transfer these 11 FIRs to the CBI with the approval of the Manipur administration. Senior attorney Jaideep Gupta claimed that a woman had been burned alive in a twelfth FIR, while Zomi Students Federation attorney Nizam Pasha said that five of the FIRs he had highlighted were not included in the 11 listed by the Solicitor-General. A young boy had been beheaded in another case, according to senior attorney Colin Gonsalves.
Court says “Inadequate information”
Chief Justice Chandrachud noted that the FIRs had not been “disaggregated,” which the Court deemed to be “inadequate” information in the State’s most recent progress report.
The Court addressed the State government, saying, “You have not specified how many of these cases entail murder or rape, arson and looting, destruction of house and property, destruction of religious worship, grave harm, etc.
The Court ordered the State to provide additional information by the next hearing on August 7, including the dates of the offenses committed, the dates of the registration of zero FIRs, the dates witness statements were taken in these cases, the dates Section 161 statements were taken, the dates of the arrests, and the names of those who have been charged in the FIRs.
