New Delhi (TIP)- The Supreme Court on Friday, August 25, shifted 27 cases being investigated by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) in connection with the ethnic strife in Manipur to a set of designated judges in Assam to ensure protection of victims and witnesses, besides facilitating fair and quick trials.
A bench, led by Chief Justice of India (CJI) Dhananjaya Y Chandrachud, accepted the request made by solicitor general (SG) Tushar Mehta to shift the CBI cases to magisterial and sessions courts in Assam in view of the prevailing situation in Manipur and the possibility of aspersions against the trial judges in Manipur who may belong to one or the other community. Asking the chief justice of the Guwahati high court to nominate as many trial judges as deemed suitable to take up the 27 CBI cases, the bench, which also comprised justices JB Pardiwala and Manoj Misra, pointed out that the directions are being passed “in view of the overall environment in Manipur and to ensure a fair process of the justice delivery system”.
The court said that the production, remand and custody of accused will be allowed in online mode due to distance and security reasons, while their test identification parade (TIP) will be done in Manipur in the presence of a local magistrate. Applications such as those seeking search and arrest warrants can be permitted to be made by investigating officers in the online mode, said the bench, adding that the high court chief justice may preferably pick judges who are conversant with one or more languages spoken in Manipur.
The bench clarified that the statements of the victims will be recorded in Manipur or wherever they are presently residing, in the presence of a local magistrate.
“This is in the interest of the victims and the survivors. We are not asking the government to pick judges, but the Guwahati high court chief justice will do it. Also, we are not going to ask the survivors to travel anywhere. They will give their evidence from wherever they are residing. We are very clear neither the victims nor the witnesses will be made to travel,” the bench remarked, as senior advocates Indira Jaising and Colin Gonsalves, representing some of the petitioners in the matter, expressed reservations against shifting the cases to Assam.
While Jaising questioned why Assam has been preferred over other states, Gonsalves pressed for continuation of trial in Manipur. The bench, in response, asked the lawyers to acknowledge the “reality of the ground situation” and let all procedural directions that go in preparation of the trials be carried out smoothly.
“If you genuinely want the trials to take place, some provisions will have to be made. These trials otherwise will not take place for the next several months if you insist on holding them in Manipur… There have been victims in the valley and victims in the hills of Manipur. People belonging to community A in hills as well as community B in valley have suffered. We are not on who suffered more. But the fact is both suffered. We are on ensuring fair trial. There are certain pre-trial directions required immediately,” it added.