Manipur Violence: Supreme Court constitutes all-women judicial committee to oversee probe and suggest compensation, remedies

The Supreme Court on Monday constituted a three-member all-women judicial committee headed by former Jammu and Kashmir High Court Chief Justice Gita Mittal to examine the probe being conducted to ensure justice to all who are victims in the incidents of violence in the State..The committee will also comprise former judges Justices Shalini Joshi and Asha Menon.The committee will have a broad-based function of examining the ongoing probes and suggesting remedial measures, compensation and rehabilitation among other things.A bench of Chief Justice of India (CJI) DY Chandrachud with Justices JB Pardiwala and Manoj Misra, however, made it clear that the committee will not supplant the CBI but is being constituted to ensure faith in rule of law."The broad outline is to use whatever in our power is to restore faith in rule of law. We will appoint a committee of 3 former HC judges. This committee of three judges will look at the investigation, relief, remedial measures, compensation and rehabilitation. It is a broad-based committee.. it will look at the relief camps (also)," the Court said.The Court, however, refused to transfer trial in the cases to a State outside of Manipur.The Court also said that it is not casting any aspersions on the CBI."We will not supplant the CBI since it is looking at it. But to ensure faith in rule of law.. we are not casting aspersion on CBI," the bench made it clear.Further, the probe by the investigating agencies will also be specifically looked into by former Maharashtra DGP and NIA officer Dattatray Padsalgikar. "The process of investigation shall be monitored by this Court. For this purpose, this Court appoints Shri Dattatray Padsalgikar, former Director General of Police, Maharashtra to supervise the investigation by the CBI into the FIRs transferred to it and the investigation by the investigative machinery of the State into the remaining FIRs," the Court said.Both the judicial committee and Dattatray Padsalgikar shall submit separate reports before the top court, the bench ordered.Pertinently, the Court also set out the investigation hierarchy as regards both CBI and State SIT probe.Regarding CBI probe, it said,"We are proposing to direct that there shall be 5 officers of rank at least DySP who will be brought into CBI from various states and we will ask the Director General of Police from the states where Hindi is spoken and have 5 officers to be brought on deputation to the CBI to oversee the investigation into these FIRs. These officers will also function within four corners of administrative set up of the CBI and will be supervised by joint director of CBI." As regards State investigation, the bench directed that,"There will be about 42 SITs which will look at cases not transferred to CBI. One inspector from that state will also be brought in by MHA in those 42 SITs so that one officer outside the State is there in each of those cases. These 42 SITs should be supervised by 6 DIG Rank officers from outside the State of Manipur... each officer will oversee 6 SITs.".The Court in its order also listed down the reasons why it was intervening: a. Significant delays between the occurrence of incidents involving heinous crimes including murder, rape and arson and the recording of zero FIRs; b. Significant delays in forwarding the zero FIRs to the police stations which have jurisdiction over the incidents; c. Delays in converting the zero FIRs into regular FIRs by the jurisdictional police stations; d. Delays in recording witness statements; e. Lack of diligence in recording the statements under Section 161..The bench was hearing a batch of pleas filed regarding the outbreak of violence in Manipur, including a plea by two women from Kuki-Zomi community who were seen in a video being paraded naked and molested by a mob of men.The Central government had ordered a probe by the CBI into the issue.The women, meanwhile, moved the apex court seeking a probe by an SIT into the incident.Prior to this, the Supreme Court also registered a suo motu case after a video of the horrific incident with the two women went viral on social media triggering outrage.During the hearing of the matter on August 1, the Court had castigated the authorities and the State police today over their apparent failure to control the law and order situation that unfolded in Manipur.It had remarked that the State Police is incapable of investigating the crimes happening across the State including sexual offences against and women, and there is a total breakdown of law and order machinery.It had, therefore, ordered the DGP of Manipur to be personally present in Court on August 7.The top court had further sought details from the State and the Central government about the 6,000 FIRs claimed to have been registered in connection with the violence in the State..Following the Court's order last week, the Director General of Police (DGP), Manipur, was personally present in the Court today. Attorney General R Venkataramani today assured the top court that the criminal cases lodged in the wake of the violence are being disaggregated. "The government is handling this at a very mature level," he said.Murder cases would be investigated by the Superintendent of Police and other senior police officers and women officers would be involved in investigations into sexual offences, he told the Court. There will be six Special Investigation Teams (SIT) formed in each district, where violence has taken place, he added. The Court today also queried whether there will be any rise in the number of cases being handed over to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI). At present around 11 cases are being probed by the CBI. If something further is found, these may be dealt with by SITs and there will be monitoring done, weekly and fortnightly, submitted Solicitor General Tushar Mehta. .A host of other counsel also made submissions today for various petitioners and applicants. Senior Advocate Indira Jaising and Advocate Vrinda Grover expressed concern over whether steps were in place to ensure that the probe into various cases of violence and rape were fair. Advocate Vishal Tiwari, meanwhile, urged the Court to constitute an SIT headed by a former judge to look into the matter. Advocate Nizam Pasha also pressed for a similar prayer in his arguments today. "There is a selection of case bias and progress of case bias is also seen here in the report of the State government towards a community. That is why an SIT overseen by court-appointed judges committee needs to be there," Pasha argued. Advocate Prashant Bhushan told the Court that an inquiry is needed into whether there was any State involvement in incidents where arms and ammunition were looted from the State armory. Senior Advocate Colin Gonsalves contended that there is a need to identify the core ring leaders of the riots. "The investigation or the core part must focus on the 6,000 FIRs but also on the core persons who created and executed the conspiracy ... Once the core elements are caught.. Once they are behind bars, who think they are invincible.. then chance of further assaults will disappear," he said. .(Read Judgment)