Opinion Express View on Supreme Court and Manipur: The Court’s questions

The Supreme Court’s tough questions to governments in Delhi and Imphal on the continuing crisis in Manipur are much needed. Amid mounting evidence of political abdication, they send a heartening message. On Tuesday, the Court said that there has been “a complete breakdown” of law and order, the state police had “lost control over the situation”, and asked the Manipur DGP to be present at the next hearing on August 7. The Court is clearly not impressed by the government’s submissions on the investigations into the incidents of rape and violence and its suggestion that all 6,000 plus FIRs could be transferred to the CBI: Describing the probe as “tardy” and “lethargic”, it wondered if the CBI had the infrastructure to “investigate 3,000 to 5,000 FIRs”. It has also mooted a committee of former HC judges to make an overall assessment, look at relief and rehabilitation.

The Supreme Court’s stinging remarks after the video of the sexual assault of two women by a mob went viral had prodded the state government to action in that case. Appallingly, no arrests were made for close to three months — the incident occurred on May 4, a zero FIR was filed on May 18. Chief Minister Biren Singh announced the first arrest after the Court spoke and the government subsequently transferred the case to the CBI and proposed shifting the trial out of Imphal. On Tuesday, it referred to statements by the two women in the video on the police handing them to the mob and asked the Solicitor General if any of those policemen had been interrogated. Have any arrests been made of the police, did the DGP care to find out in all these months, it asked.

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The Court’s vigilance is even more reassuring given that the Centre still refuses to accept that the administration in Imphal has failed. It has, instead, tried to engage in whataboutery, by equating the Manipur incident with attacks on women in Opposition-ruled states. The Court has rightly called out these attempts to play down the crisis in Manipur. CJI D Y Chandrachud said: “You cannot excuse what is taking place in one part of the country like Manipur on the ground that this is now (happening) in several other crimes against women as well.” As the party that rules at the Centre and in the state, the BJP must rise above short-term interests, engage with the Opposition, and draw all stakeholders into the search for justice and resolution. The court, thankfully, is watching.