SC tells CBI not to record statements of women in Manipur video

The Supreme Court on Tuesday told the CBI not to record the statements of women seen in a video being paraded naked in Manipur by a mob.

A bench headed by Chief Justice DY Chandrachud took note of the submissions by lawyer Nizam Pasha, who appeared for the women and said the CBI has asked them to depose on Tuesday.

Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, appearing for the Centre and the Manipur government, said he was not aware of this.

“Just ask them (CBI officials) to wait. We are going to take it at 2 pm today,” said the bench which included Justice JB Pardiwala and Justice Manoj Misra.

Mehta said he will ask the CBI to refrain from recording the statements.

The top court is scheduled to hear at 2 pm a batch of pleas related to ethnic violence in Manipur and may pass an order setting up a committee of retired judges or a SIT to oversee the probe.

SC aghast

On Monday, it described as “horrendous” the video of two women being paraded naked in Manipur amid reports that the police handed them over to a mob.

It sought to know why a FIR over the incident was inordinately delayed.

The judges described the violence perpetrated against women in Manipur as one of “unprecedented magnitude” and refused to consider submissions of BJP leader Bansuri Swaraj that similar alleged incidents in West Bengal, Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh and Kerala be also taken note of.

Seeking a report about the action taken by Manipur in around 6,000 cases related to the ethnic conflict, the bench said the police in the troubled state cannot be allowed to continue with its probe in view of reports that its own personnel handed over the women to the mob.

On July 27, the Centre told the Supreme Court that it has transferred the case to the CBI and that the government had “zero tolerance towards any crimes against women”.

Seven people have been arrested in the case so far. Scores of people have been killed and several hundred injured since ethnic violence erupted in Manipur on May 3.

(With agency inputs)