Solicitor General Tushar Mehta Tuesday told the Supreme Court that most of the bodies lying unclaimed in the morgues in Manipur are of infiltrators. “I didn’t want to say this but most of the unclaimed dead bodies are those infiltrators who came with a particular design and got killed,” the S-G told a three-judge bench presided by Chief Justice of India D Y Chandrachud that took up petitions related to the Manipur violence. “I don’t wish to mention anything and visitate things,” the S-G told the bench also comprising Justices J B Pardiwala and Manoj Misra. The S-G said this as the CJI, while responding to Senior Advocate Ranjit Kumar’s submissions that illegal immigrant influx from Mayanmar was a major factor contributing to the unrest, said “but at the end of it, the people who are raped and murdered are our people right? Therefore we have to ensure that justice is done. That’s all”. The court also asked the S-G to take instructions on what efforts were being made to identify the bodies. “Is there a nodal officer who is ensuring that the dead bodies of people within Maniour are identified? Are their bodies been handed over to their relatives? Have their identities been established? What exercise is being done to establish identity?” Senior Advocate Colin Gosnalves said that 118 bodies were lying unidentified in a morgue in Imphal. The CJI said “You can't keep 118 bodies indefinitely in a morgue”. It asked the S-G to inform it when the court meets on August 7 how many bodies have been identified and how many remain. The court also asked the government to address it on the aspect of compensation for the victims on August 7. “When we assemble on Monday, please tell us also, because that is also going to be one of the most important parts of the remit of the committee we are going to constitute, to ensure that compensation is made over to those who lost their homes, what is the package, how is it going to be disbursed, who will be the authorities of government which will be involved in the identification, quantification of claim, disbursement, etc ” said the CJI. Gonsalves said though the home minister announced 10 lakh per person killed about a month ago, that is yet to be implemented. Senior Advocate Jaideep Gupta said he hopes it is not being suggested for Myanmarese infiltrators. The CJI said that “like in every scheme for the payment of compensation, you have to identify the beneficiaries and they have to meet certain parameters”.
