The Manipur administration and law enforcement agencies were directed by the Supreme Court on Wednesday to provide a status report on the “recovery of arms made from all sources” so far in the ethnically violent state.
Let a status report be provided to this court by the government, the Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud and Justices JB Pardiwala and Manoj Misra ruled on a bench. Only this court will have access to the report.
We don’t care if there are illegal weapons on one side or the other when it comes to disarmament. We are approaching this with objectivity. No matter where the illicit armaments are coming from, the state must intervene, the CJI emphasised.
“Criminal investigations, dealing with various aspects of human suffering, arm recovery, and providing compensation, these have to take place across the board regardless of who the person is truly in need of,” it continued.
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The bench also took note of the Manipur Chief Secretary’s affidavit, in which he disputed that measles or chickenpox had broken out in the relief camps. There is no lack of essential supplies like food and medication for persons experiencing an economic blockade in the state and in relief camps, according to Manipur’s Solicitor General Tushar Mehta.
The top court further requested that Manipur’s government make a decision on the unclaimed corpses of those slain in the violence that has been languishing in mortuaries for the past four months, stating that action must be taken before the bodies of the dead become a source of illness.
The bench informed the state administration that “the bodies cannot be kept in the mortuary indefinitely as it can lead to an outbreak.”
The Supreme Court formed a three-member committee to monitor relief and rehabilitation efforts in Manipur, and it further instructed the Union home secretary to get in touch with Justice (retd) Gita Mittal, the committee’s head, to finalise the names of the experts who would assist the committee in carrying out its duties. It instructed the state government to choose an officer who would work with the committee to complete its tasks.
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The cases involving the conflict between the Meitei and Kuki groups in Manipur have been brought before the highest court.
The All Tribal Students Union of Manipur (ATSUM) demonstration on May 3 sparked clashes between the Christian tribal Kuki and the Hindu Meiteis in Manipur.
Since the state has been engulfed in violence for more than three months, paramilitary troops have to be used by the central government to regain control of the situation.
