In a fresh set of directions in matters arising out of the 2023 Manipur ethnic violence, the Supreme Court on Thursday directed the CBI and the Manipur SITs to furnish copies of charge sheets to the victims and their families. The Court also ordered free legal aid for each victim, travel support for participation in trials at Guwahati, and interim honorarium for the Justice Gita Mittal committee and former Maharashtra DGP Dattatray Padsalgikar.
A Bench comprising Chief Justice of India Surya Kant, Justice Joymalya Bagchi and Justice Vipul M. Pancholi passed the directions after perusing the 12th status report submitted by former Maharashtra Police chief Dattatray Padsalgikar, who is monitoring investigations into criminal cases arising from the violence.
According to the report, the CBI has filed charge sheets in 20 cases before the special court, while investigation in six other FIRs is ongoing and expected to conclude within six months. The Court directed the CBI to complete the remaining investigations within the stipulated time and file charge sheets.
Taking note of submissions by senior advocate Vrinda Grover that victims and their families were unaware of the status of cases, the Court directed the CBI and the State SITs to provide copies of the charge sheets to the affected persons.
The Bench clarified that it had “neither perused the charge sheets nor made any comments on their merits”, and that victims would be at liberty to raise their grievances before the special trial court.
The Court directed the Manipur State Legal Services Authority (SLSA) and the Assam State Legal Services Authority to provide free legal aid counsel to each victim, with lawyers proficient in the local language to facilitate communication.
It further ordered:
- The Manipur SLSA shall bear the travel and boarding expenses of legal aid counsel for visits to Guwahati
- The legal services authorities shall also cover travel and stay expenses for victims and one family member per case for attending trials in Guwahati
- Legal aid counsel may assist the special court through public prosecutors or independently, depending on the situation
The Court reiterated that its earlier order permitting victims to record statements through video conferencing before the Guwahati trial court would continue, keeping safety concerns in mind.
The Bench expressed concern that no honorarium had been paid to the three-member judges’ committee headed by former Chief Justice of the Jammu and Kashmir High Court Justice Gita Mittal, which is overseeing relief and rehabilitation, and to Padsalgikar.
The Court observed:
“We are disappointed to know that no reimbursement for their travel and work has been done so far.”
As an interim measure, it directed payment of:
- ₹12 lakh to Justice Gita Mittal
- ₹10 lakh each to Justice Shalini P. Joshi (former Bombay High Court judge) and Justice Asha Menon (former Delhi High Court judge)
- ₹10 lakh to Dattatray Padsalgikar
The Court stated that the final honorarium would be fixed later.
The Supreme Court had earlier transferred trials in these cases from Manipur to Guwahati. On February 13, the Bench had sought a status report on the progress of investigations.
During the hearing, Grover also sought substitution of a deceased woman victim by her mother, stating that the CBI had not informed the victim that a charge sheet had been filed in her rape case. She submitted that the woman had died last month from an illness allegedly linked to trauma following the incident.
The Court has listed the matter for further directions in the third week of March.
The violence in Manipur began on May 3, 2023, during a “Tribal Solidarity March” in the hill districts opposing the Meitei community’s demand for Scheduled Tribe status. More than 200 people were killed, several hundred injured and thousands displaced.
