NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Friday proposed setting up special courts to conduct day-to-day trials in criminal cases arising out of the 2023 ethnic violence in Manipur, while directing investigative agencies to expeditiously complete pending investigations and ensure that victims get copies of chargesheets.
A bench comprising Chief Justice Surya Kant and Justices Joymalia Bagchi and V Mohana, while hearing a batch of arguments related to the violence in Manipur, took note of the fact that many victims and their families are yet to get copies of the chargesheets filed by the CBI and the state Special Investigation Court in criminal cases.
It allowed the Legal Aid Advisor, who represents the victims, to contact the offices of the Chief Magistrates of Gauhati and Manipur to obtain copies of the indictments.
The lawyers must receive copies of the indictments within one week from the investigating agencies.
Proposing to set up special courts to conduct day-to-day trials in criminal cases, the bench asked Additional Solicitor General Aishwarya Bhatti, representing the state government, SIT and CBI, to collect information on cases where investigations have been completed and chargesheets have been filed, and also provide details of those matters in which investigation has not been completed.
The bench said it would help in knowing the number of special courts required to handle the trials expeditiously.
It also asked the Manipur High Commission to look into the cases of 30 people who went missing after ethnic violence.
The bench asked the CBI, the state Special Investigation Commission and the court-appointed monitoring committee headed by former Maharashtra DGP Dattatray Padsalgikar to submit fresh status reports on the violence-related cases.
More than 200 people have been killed, several hundred injured and thousands displaced since ethnic violence first erupted in Manipur on May 3, 2023, when a “tribal solidarity march” was held in hill areas to protest the majority Meitei community’s demand for Scheduled Tribe status.
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