Offences Against Women Horrendous: SC moots SIT to oversee Manipur probe

Are you for a moment saying that do something for all the daughters of India or don’t do anything for anybody at all?

New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Monday termed as ‘horrendous’ the video of two women being paraded naked in Manipur amid reports that the police handed them over to the rioting mob, asked searching questions over delayed registration of the FIR and mooted the idea of setting up a committee of retired judges or an SIT to oversee the probe.

Describing the violence perpetrated against women in strife-torn Manipur as one of "unprecedented magnitude", the top court refused to consider vehement submissions of lawyer and BJP leader Bansuri Swaraj that similar alleged incidents in Opposition-ruled states like West Bengal, Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh and Kerala be also taken note of.

Seeking report about the action taken by the state in around 6,000 cases related to the ethnic conflict, a bench headed by Chief Justice D Y Chandrachud said Manipur police cannot be allowed to continue with its probe in view of the news reports that it was the policemen who virtually handed over the women to the mob.

The bench, also comprising justices J B Pardiwala and Manoj Misra, asked as to why the state police took 14 days to register an FIR.

Expressing surprise over the Manipur government not being in possession of facts even today when several things have been reported in the media, the bench said the apex court is dealing with “systemic violence” and its concern is that the investigation proceeds properly.

“What was the police doing? Why was an FIR in video case transferred to magisterial court on June 24 that is after one month and three days?” asked the bench.

“This is horrendous. There are media reports that these women were handed over to the mob by the police. We also do not want the police to handle it,” said the bench, asking what stood in the way of registering an FIR immediately after the incident.

The court thwarted repeated attempts by Swaraj to draw a parallel between the crimes against women in Manipur and those happening in Opposition-ruled states.

“The crimes against women take place all over the country. This is part of our social reality. Presently, we are dealing with something which is of unprecedented magnitude and pertains mainly to the crimes and perpetration of violence against women...There is a situation of communal and sectarian strife ... in Manipur. So, what we say is that there is no gainsaying that there are crimes against women taking place in West Bengal as well,” it told Swaraj.

Responding to Swaraj’s submissions that all daughters of India needed protection, the CJI said, “Are you for a moment saying that do something for all the daughters of India or don’t do anything for anybody at all?”

The Centre on July 27 transferred to the CBI the probe into the case related to two women being paraded naked and also urged the top court to transfer the trial outside Manipur for conclusion of the trial in a time-bound manner.

When Attorney General R Venkataramani sought time for responding to the queries, the bench said it was running out of time and there was “a great need” to give healing touch to the state, for those who lost everything including their loved ones and their homes.

“Time is running out for us,” the bench said, adding the incident had happened on May 4 and now, nearly three months have gone by which means vital evidence could have been obliterated and destroyed.

“We have to rebuild lives as well. We are concerned about the need to rebuild life from here on. A lot has been lost but everything has not been lost.

We still have human lives in existence, we need to rebuild those lives,” the bench said.

The apex court also sought details about how many ‘zero FIRs’ were lodged and how many of them were forwarded to the jurisdictional police station, and action taken by the authorities. A zero FIR can be filed in any police station regardless of whether the offence was committed within its jurisdiction.

It asked about how many people have been arrested so far and are in judicial custody. The bench also asked about the position of legal aid to the victims and how many statements under section 164 of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC), which deals with recording of confessions and statements before a magistrate, have been recorded.

It asked about the kind of relief package that is expected from the Government of India for the rehabilitation of those affected by the protracted ethnic conflict.