Manipur Violence : Supreme Court Transfers CBI Cases To Assam For Pre-Trial Steps

The Supreme Court on Friday issued a slew of directions to transfer the sexual violence cases related to Manipur ethnic violence, which have been transferred to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), to Assam, "bearing in mind the overall environment in Manipur, and the need for ensuring a fair process of criminal justice administration".The Court asked the Chief Justice of the Gauhati High Court to designate Courts in Guwahati to handle the pre-trial steps of CBI cases. Applications for remand, extension of custody, issuance of warrants etc., can be virtually made by the investigating agency before the designated Courts in Guwahati. The Court further stated that the victims and witnesses will be at the liberty to give evidence virtually from their places in Manipur, instead of travelling physically to the Assam Courts. A bench of Chief Justice DY Chandrachud, JB Pardiwala, and Manoj Misra passed the directions accepting the suggestions made by Solicitor General of India Tushar Mehta on behalf of the State of Manipur. He raised the following issues - there could be be some concerns about the judges in Manipur belonging to particular communities; also, there are security concerns regarding the transfer of accused. He suggested that the trials be transferred to a designated court in the neighbouring state of Assam.Lawyers appearing for the victims/tribal groups - Senior Advocates Colin Gonsalves, Chander Uday Singh, Indira Jaising, Advocates Vrinda Grover and Nizam Pasha -objected to the proposal to the transfer of cases to Assam. Gonsalves insisted that the trials should take place in the jurisdictional places where the offences took place and stated that the victims cannot be forced to go to Assam. Jaising raised concerns about trials being transferred to Assam and said that this was contrary to an earlier assurance made by the SG. Pasha said that language barrier issues might arise if the cases are transferred to Assam. He suggested Mizoram as an alternate location.In response, CJI said that the other neighbouring States are "smaller states with lesser infrastructure". He also said that for the victims to travel to other places like Shillong (an alternative suggested by Jaising), they have to go through Assam in any case. Assuaging the concerns raised by the victims regarding travel of the witnesses/victims, the bench said that they can record their evidence virtually. "There have been victims in valleys, and in hills. It would be difficult for people who suffered in valleys to travel to hills, and other way round. We are not on who suffered more, just the practical difficulty", CJI said.SG said that these directions are sought only for the cases which have been transferred to the CBI and the other cases which are being investigated by the Special Investigation Teams will remain in Manipur only.Directions issuedAfter the hearing, the bench dictated the order as follows :"At the present stage, bearing in mind the overall environment in Manipur, and the need for ensuring a fair process of criminal justice administration, we issue the following directions :1.We request the Chief Justice of the High Court of Gauhati to nominate one or more officers of the rank of Chief Judicial Magistrate/Sessions Judge in Guwahati in the State of Assam. Chief Justice to preferably select judges who are conversant in one or more languages of Manipur.2. All applications for the production of accused, remand, judicial custody, extension of custody and other proceedings in connection with the investigation are allowed to be conducted in the online mode bearing in mind both the security and distance issues.3. The judicial custody of the accused, when granted, shall be permitted in the State of Manipur to obviate transit.4. The statements of witnesses under Sect 164 CrPc are permitted to be recorded in the presence of a local Magistrate in Manipur, or as the case may be, the place where the witnesses reside outside Manipur. The Acting Chief Justice of Manipur to designate Magistrates for these purposes.5. The test identification parades are permitted to take place in the presence of a Manipur based Magistrate.6. Applications such as arrest and warrant are permitted to be made through the online mode"When Advocate Nizam Pasha pointed out that internet is not fully restored in the State of Manipur, the bench asked the SG to ensure that internet connectivity is there in the places of designated local Magistrates."Solicitor General has assured that proper internet connectivity will be ensured in the places in Manipur to comply with the above directions", the bench recorded in the order.At this point, Jaising raised a demand that the option of physical appearance should not be foreclosed. Following this, the bench clarified in the order, "The above directions shall not operate to preclude any witness or person to appear physically before the judge in Guwahati".The bench was hearing a batch of pleas over the ethnic clashes in...

Manipur Violence : Supreme Court Transfers CBI Cases To Assam For Pre-Trial Steps

Awstika Das

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