NEW DELHI, Aug 25:
In a significant development, the Supreme Court Friday transferred to neighbouring Assam 17 Manipur violence cases being probed by the CBI, including the sexual assault case of two women seen in a viral video being paraded naked, and asked the Chief Justice of the Gauhati High Court to nominate one or more judicial officers to deal with them.
The top court passed a slew of directions on judicial procedures, including the virtual examination of victims and witnesses by courts, saying they have been issued “at the present stage, bearing in mind the overall environment in Manipur and the need for ensuring a fair process of criminal justice administration”.
A bench comprising Chief Justice D Y Chandrachud and Justices J B Pardiwala and Manoj Misra rejected the submissions of many lawyers, who were opposed to transfer of CBI cases to Assam, and accepted the submissions of Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, appearing for the Centre and the Manipur government, that the suggestion has been made keeping in mind the better internet connectivity there.
“We chose it for the connectivity and the maximum (internet) connectivity is in Assam,” the law officer said.
“Both sides (Kuki and Meiteis) have been hurt …There have been victims in valleys, and in hills. It would be difficult for people who suffered in valleys to travel to hills, and the other way round. We are not on who suffered more, just the practical difficulty,” the CJI said, adding the top court will pass orders which will be fair to both sides.
Issuing directions, the bench said, “We request the Chief Justice of the Gauhati High Court to nominate one or more officers above the rank of Judicial Magistrate First Class/sessions judge In Guwahati in Assam to deal with such trial cases. The Chief Justice to preferably select judges who are conversant in one or more languages of Manipur.”
All applications for the production of the accused, remand, judicial custody, extension of custody, and other proceedings in connection with the investigations are allowed to be conducted on the online mode, bearing in mind both distance and security issues at the designated courts, it directed.
“The Judicial custody of the accused if and when granted shall be permitted in Manipur in order to obviate transit,” the apex court said.
The statement of witnesses under Section 164 (testimonies under the provision are admissible as evidence during trials) of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC) are permitted to be recorded in the presence of a local magistrate in Manipur, it said. (PTI)
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