NEW DELHI: India’s Chief Justice D. Y. Chandrachud announced in open court on Monday that the Supreme Court will appoint an all-women committee of three former High Court judges headed by Justice Gita Mittal, a former Chief Justice of the Jammu & Kashmir High Court, to provide the “healing touch” in violence-torn Manipur.

Other members of the broad-based committee would be Justice Shalini Phansalkar Joshi, a retired Bombay High Court judge, and Justice Asha Menon, a former Delhi High Court judge.

“This will be a broad-based committee which will be constituted to supervise, intervene and monitor relief and rehabilitation, restoration of homesteads, religious places of worship, better relief work, etc,” Justice Chandrachud, heading a three-judge Bench, said.

He said the court also intends to appoint retired Maharashtra cadre IPS officer Dattatray Padsalgikar, who had served in the National Investigation Agency, the Intelligence Bureau, and in Nagaland, to monitor the overall investigation of cases registered during the violence.

Over 6,500 First Infor­mation Reports (FIR) have been registered from May to July in Manipur. The Manipur government, represented by Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, said it has transferred 11 FIRs concerning crimes committed against women and children, including the Thoubal sexual violence incident, to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).

As for the other cases, which would remain with the Manipur Police, the state government said it has formed 42 Special Investigation Teams (SIT). The top court, however, said it wanted eyes from outside the state to keep an eye on the State Police probe into these cases, which include serious offences like murder, arson, etc. The apex court said it would direct Directors General of Police (DGP) from six states to name six DIG rank officers.

Published in Dawn, August 8th, 2023