Read Time: 10 minutes
Recently, the Supreme Court was informed that while the Solicitor General had assured the court that peace was being restored, the assurance given were not true as they were made in a non-serious fashion and were not even intended to be implemented.
State of Manipur today informed the Supreme Court that the situation in the state was improving by slowly.
On hearing this, a CJI Chandrachud led bench has asked the state to file an updated status report on the situation.
Solicitor General Tushar Mehta appearing for the State of Manipur informed the court that the situation was improving.
"The situation is improving but slowly.. the petitioner may not give a communal color.. its humans.. 1400 CAPF companies have been deployed. the curfew is reduced only to 5 hours.. there is an improvement. give me time till Friday...", SG said.
At this juncture, Senior Advocate Colin Gonsalves, appearing for the petitioners, directed the court's attention towards an IA filed recently in the matter and said, "My affidavit gives exact number of killings in two villages.. its hugely accelerating, they are saying the situation is getting better but its not..There is media interviews saying kill the kukis, drive them out of the hills..no FIRs, even the person who said this on Karan Thapar's show, FIR is not registered against him..".
The bench also comprising Justices PS Narasimha and Manoj Mishra was further informed that just last night three persons had been killed. "..a tribal has been beheaded, this is the first case of beheading of a tribal... women are stopping the army from doing their job, the army has put out two press releases saying they are not allowed to do their job..", Gonsalved added.
Hearing this the CJI told SG Mehta, "You have heard the submissions, we will look at the report now..We will take this up on Monday now."
The petitioners, Manipur Tribal Forum, Delhi (MTFD), had last month informed the Supreme Court that empty assurances were given by Union of India (UOI) on peace being restored in Manipur, as both the UOI and the Chief Minister of the State have embarked jointly on a communal agenda for the ethnic cleansing of the Kukis.
An intervention application had been filed by MTFD on the issue of ethnic cleansing of the Kukis by armed communal organisation, "Arambai Tenggol” and “Meitei Leepun”.
Relying on the prayers made in its writ petition, the application added,
"Petitioner brought this to the notice of this court on 8.05.2023 and sought protection by the army since the State and its Police force were not trusted by the tribals. This court made an order asking the authorities to ensure that the grievances will be looked into and peace restored. Solicitor General gave assurance to that effect. This assurance was not kept. In the hearing on 17.05.2023 urgent reliefs were sought for protection of the tribals. These reliefs were not granted. Rather the Solicitor General assured the court that peace was being restored. This assurance given was not true. After the giving of these assurances over 81 Kukis were killed, 237 churches and 73 administration building/quarter were burnt and 141 villages destroyed and 31410 Kukis displaced from their homes. The assurances of the authorities are not useful anymore and made in a non-serious fashion and are not even intended to be implemented."
Amidst tensions escalating in the State of Manipur, two Special Leave Petitions (SLPs) were filed before the Supreme Court against the High Court's order directing the Centre and the State governments to include the Meetei/Meitei community of the State in the Scheduled Tribe list of the Indian Constitution as a "tribe" of Manipur.
Moreover, the plea filed by Manipur Tribal Forum sought directions to the Centre and the State to evacuate the Manipuri Tribals who fled to CRPF Lamphel Camp (3500 people), CRPF Camp near the DC office (700 people approximately), Koirengei Camp (300 people) as well as small pockets of tribals held up in Imphal (both east and west) as well as the villages surrounding Imphal Valley and take them to their respective Hill District under central forces escort to their respective areas of residence in the hill districts.
On May 17, Solicitor General Tushar Mehta told the Supreme Court that the State of Manipur had sought an extension of one year from the High Court and not a stay, against the order directing the Centre and the State governments to include the Meetei/Meitei community of the State in the Scheduled Tribe list of the Indian Constitution as a "tribe" of Manipur.
"Considering the position on the ground, we chose not to seek stay, and only seek an extension of one year from the High Court, as it would have impact on the situation on the ground...", a CJI Chandrachud led bench was told.
The SG made this submission after the bench comprising CJI DY Chandrachud with Justices Pardiwala and Narasimha had asked about the proceedings before the High Court in the instant matter.
Earlier, the Supreme Court had asked the State of Manipur to make due arrangements in the relief camps organised by the government and all necessary precautions must be taken for rehabilitation of displaced persons.
Case Title: Manipur Tribal Forum, Delhi vs. State of Manipur and Anr.
Please Login or Register
