It is for the apex court to ascertain that states “do not turn a blind eye” to law-and-order and all endeavours are made to foster confidence in people, the Supreme Court said on Wednesday as it decided to monitor the rescue, relief and rehabilitation measures in Manipur, which has been rocked by ethnic violence, claiming at least 70 lives since May 3.
A bench, headed by Chief Justice of India Dhananjaya Y Chandrachud, also took a grim view of the single judge bench order of March 27 which directed the state government to send within four weeks a recommendation to the Centre on the demand for scheduled tribe (ST) status by the Meitei community. The clashes between Meiteis and tribals started in Churachandpur district of Manipur on May 3 after a group of tribals took out a march to protest against the high court order and the Meitei community’s demand to be included into the ST category.
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The top court pointed out that any order on inclusion or otherwise of a community in a SC/ST list was beyond the remit of a court, emphasising that a constitution bench ruling in the State of Maharashtra Vs Milind in 2000 has laid down the law in this regard.
“It is a completely wrong order. We gave time to justice Muralidharan (single judge and the acting chief justice of the Manipur high court) to remedy his error but he did not…We have to take a strong view against it now…It is clear that if high court judges do not follow constitution bench judgments, then what we should do,” remarked the bench, which also included justices PS Narasimha and JB Pardiwala.
Appearing for the state government, solicitor general (SG) Tushar Mehta, however, submitted that the instead of seeking a stay or recall of the March 27 order, the state government moved a plea before the single judge and got an extension of the time frame to take a decision on granting the ST status to the Meiteis by one year.
“We had an option of challenging the order and seeking a stay. The high court said one tribe should be conferred with the ST status. But we chose not to challenge it and instead got an extension by a year. A stay can have adverse effect on the ground,” submitted Mehta, adding a tribal group has challenged the March 27 order before the division bench of the high court and the next hearing is fixed for June 6.
After being informed about the pendency of the appeal against the single judge order, the bench refrained from passing any order and asked all the parties aggrieved by the March 27 order to make suitable submissions before the division bench on June 6.
About the other aspects of the matter, the bench clarified that it is not wrapping up the proceedings in the top court at this stage and would rather continue to monitor the situation in Manipur.
“We are not entering into the fray as to which side was responsible. Doing that at this stage won’t be proper. Law and order is a state subject. As the top court, we are there to ensure law and order is maintained and they don’t turn a blind eye… Let the State of Manipur give a fresh status report to us after the reopening. As a constitutional court, we would want to be apprised of what’s happening in the state,” it said.
The top court added that the petitioners approached it with serious pleadings on record that warranted an intervention.
“That is why we have flagged several issues relating to relief and rehabilitation. We have issued directive to them for taking necessary steps so that peace and tranquility in the state is maintained. Law and order is matter of the political arm of the executive. We are here to prod them so that they carry out their duties. We want to retain control and that’s why we have not transferred everything to the high court,” observed the bench, which included justices PS Narasimha and JB Pardiwala.
It directed the chief secretary of the state and the security advisor “to take appropriate steps to foster confidence and ensure peace and tranquillity” in view of apprehensions raised regarding safety of Kuki community in certain villages. The court, on a plea by the Manipur High Court Bar Association, further asked the law enforcement agencies to look into their contentions that illegal immigrants from Myanmar were involved in the violence and that a crackdown on illegal poppy cultivation was also a chief reason behind the mayhem.
Fixing the next hearing in July after the summer break ends in the Supreme Court, the bench took on record the latest status report submitted by SG Mehta under various heads: Steps taken to bring normalcy to the state, details of relief camps, compensation packages made available, security measures to protect religious places, transportation of people left stranded and registration of FIRs and recovery of fire arms.
The state’s report denied that any one community was responsible for the violence and blamed “armed miscreants” and “volatile public mob”. The clashes between Meiteis and tribals started in Churachandpur district after a solidarity march was conducted by All Tribal Students Union of Manipur (ATSUM) to protest the March 27 Manipur high court order and the Meitei community’s demand to be included into the Scheduled Tribe (ST) category. At least 70 people are officially confirmed to have died in the violence, which involved arson, rioting and targeted killings. The violence prompted the state government to issue shoot-at-sight orders, enforce a curfew and ban internet services.
The report added 318 relief camps have been opened that housed more than 47,000 people. Around 46,000 people have been assisted in returning to their home towns. A total of 626 FIRs have been registered while more than 1500 firearms have been taken away and recovered from people, added the report.
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The court was hearing a batch of three petitions filed separately by BJP MLA and chairman of the Hill Areas Committee (HAC) Dinganglung Gangmei, and NGO Manipur Tribal Forum. Gangmei contended in the top court that the “proceedings before the high court were vitiated on account of not making the HAC a party” and that the high court order created tension and led to violence between the two communities. He argued that there is no recommendation of the state government for inclusion of the Meitei community in the scheduled tribe list and that the state cannot be forced by the court to do so.
Another petition filed by the NGO Manipur Tribal Forum, through advocate Satya Mitra, demanded protection of the tribals — Nagas and Kukis — and to deploy central forces to protect all churches and places of worship of these communities in Manipur. The plea has also sought a probe into the violence.
Comprising around 53% of Manipur’s population, the majority Meitei community is relatively affluent while the Nagas and Kukis, who constitute about 44% of the population, mainly live off agriculture on the hills and are economically deprived.
