Supreme Court Directs CBI To Share Manipur Charge Sheets With Victims

New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Thursday directed the CBI and Manipur SITs to furnish copies of charge sheets filed in the 2023 Manipur ethnic violence cases to victims and their families.

A three-judge Bench comprising Chief Justice of India Surya Kant and Justices Joymalya Bagchi and Vipul M. Pancholi issued the directions after perusing the 12th status report submitted by former Maharashtra Director General of Police Dattatray Padsalgikar, who is monitoring the investigations.

According to the report, the CBI has filed charge sheets in 20 cases before the special court, while investigation in six other FIRs is underway and expected to be completed within six months.

The Bench directed the CBI to complete investigation in the remaining cases within the stipulated time and file charge sheets. Taking note of submissions that victims and their families were unaware of the progress of cases, the court ordered that copies of charge sheets be shared with them.

The court further directed the Manipur State Legal Services Authority (SLSA) and the Assam State Legal Services Authority to provide free legal aid counsel to each victim. It specified that the lawyers should be proficient in the local language to facilitate communication.

The Manipur SLSA was directed to bear the travel and boarding expenses of legal aid counsel for proceedings in Guwahati. The court had earlier transferred the trials from Manipur to Assam. It also directed that expenses of one victim or family member per case for travel and stay in Guwahati be covered.

“The legal aid counsel shall be entitled to assist the special trial court through public prosecutors or independently as per the prevailing situations,” the court said.

The Bench clarified that its earlier order permitting victims to record statements through video conferencing before the trial court in Guwahati would continue in view of safety concerns. The matter has been listed for further directions in the third week of March.

The violence, which began on May 3, 2023, during a “Tribal Solidarity March” in the hill districts, has resulted in over 200 deaths, several hundred injuries and large-scale displacement.