New Delhi: The Supreme Court Friday proposed setting up of special courts to conduct day-to-day trials in criminal cases arising out of the 2023 ethnic violence in Manipur, while directing probe agencies to complete pending investigations expeditiously and ensuring that victims receive copies of chargesheets.
A bench comprising Chief Justice Surya Kant and Justices Joymalya Bagchi and V Mohana, while hearing a batch of pleas relating to the Manipur violence, took note of the fact that many victims and their families are yet to get the copies of the chargesheets filed by the CBI and the state SIT in criminal cases.
It permitted the legal aid counsel, representing the victims, to approach the offices of the chief justices of the Gauhati and Manipur chief justices to seek the copies of the chargesheets.
The lawyers will have to be provided the copies of the chargesheets within one week by the probe agencies.
Proposing to set up special courts to conduct day-to-day trials in criminal cases, the bench asked Additional Solicitor General Aishwarya Bhati, appearing for the state government, SIT and the CBI, to collate information about the cases where the investigations are complete and chargesheets are filed and also give details of those matters where probe is incomplete.
The bench said it will help in finding out as to how many special courts will be needed to handle the trials expeditiously.
It also asked the Manipur HC to look into cases pertaining to 30 persons who went missing after ethnic violence.
The bench asked the CBI, state SIT and the court-appointed monitoring committee headed by former Maharashtra DGP Dattatray Padsalgikar to file fresh status reports about the violence-related cases.
More than 200 people have been killed, several hundred injured and thousands displaced since ethnic violence first broke out in Manipur May 3, 2023, when a ‘Tribal Solidarity March’ was organised in the hill districts to protest against the majority Meitei community’s demand for Scheduled Tribe (ST) status.
