Manipur Violence: SC Says State Police 'Incapable' Of Investigation, Directs DGP To Be Present In Court

The Supreme Court said Manipur Police has not been in charge of the law and order in Manipur. "They may have made performative arrests, but they were not in charge," CJI Chandrachud observed.

The Supreme Court on Tuesday observed that the state police has not been in charge of the law & order situation in Manipur. Chief Justice DY Chandrachud said: "It's clear that for the last two months, the state police was not in charge. They may have made performative arrests, but they were not in charge. Either they were incapable of doing it or uninterested." "(Manipur) State police is incapable of investigation. They have lost control. There is absolutely no law and order," CJI Chandrachud further said.

The CJI also observed that there had been a long delay in the registration of FIRs in the Manipur ethnic violence cases. Referring to an incident of a woman being dragged out of a car and her son being lynched in Manipur on May 4, the top court said the FIR was registered after a delay of three days on July 7.

CJI DY Chandrachud was quoted as saying by legal news website Live Law: "It appears except in case of 1 or 2 FIRs, there have been no arrests at all. Investigations are too lethargic, FIRs are being registered after two months, and statements are not being recorded." Justice Pardiwala asked the government of Manipur: "The son was burned in this incident. Why was Section 302 not added to this FIR?"

Appearing for the Manipur government, Solicitor General Tushar Mehta said that the CCTV footage was auto-deleted. "This is not a justification, but the situation on the ground was bad," to which CJI Chandrachud said: "That means that the situation was so bad for two months that it was not conducive for FIRs. There was no law, you couldn't even register an FIR, police couldn't arrest." "Does it not point to the fact that there is a complete breakdown of law and order and machinery of the State," he asked.

Mehta further said all officers in all police stations have been directed to be sensitive to sexual violence reported by women and children.

In the car wash incident where tribal women working were allegedly raped and murdered, the Manipur government said that an investigation is underway. "As many as 37 witnesses have been examined, and 14 other employees of the car wash will be investigated. Seven accused were arrested, including one juvenile. FIR has been transferred to CBI for early booking of culprits," Solicitor General told Supreme Court.

Referring to the Manipur viral video, the CJI asked: "The woman's statement says that she was handed over by the police to the mob. Have any arrests been made of the police? Did the DGP care to find out in all these months? What has he done? It is his duty. Did they interrogate the police officers?"

To this, Mehta replied: "We can't find out everything in a day. Let the investigation of CBI continue. We'll give you a report by Friday." The Supreme Court on Tuesday directed the Director General of Police of Manipur to be personally present before the bench on Monday, August 7, for the hearing.