Manipur Violence | Supreme Court Issues Notice On Plea By Two Kuki Women

The Supreme Court on Friday issued notice in a plea filed by two women of the Kuki tribal community seeking a direction to government hospitals to provide free medical treatment to persons fleeing violence in the state of Manipur. The plea had also sought for appropriate guidelines directing the police to lodge zero FIRs as the local police has shown resistance in registering FIRs so far.

The bench led by Chief Justice DY Chandrachud and comprising of Justice Sanjay Karol and Justice Manoj Misra, while issuing notice also tagged the matter along with other pleas before it related to the Manipur violence. 

The petitioners were represented by Advocate-on-Record Amrita Sarkar and Adv. Siam Phaipi.

The plea describes the plight of people who have been uprooted from their homeland and have been targeted in the ongoing violence in the state. The plea states that several people including the petitioners are left with with no means to sustain themselves, in the aftermath of the violence.

“The Petitioners like several other Kuki tribal community people have been denied of their basic human rights and right to life and livelihood. There have been no steps taken to help the Kuki people either during or aftermath of the violence. The Petitioners and other people from the said community who have escaped from the State of Manipur to other states are facing severe economic burden to re-establish/recover from both mental and physical injuries", the petition states.

In light of the mounting violence, the plea has sought for an online portal to be set up that would allow the release of central/state sanctioned family pension to victims of violence, without insisting on physical verification of documents. The plea has suggested that a web portal be set up to allow the victims to upload their medical documents for claiming reimbursement. The plea also suggests setting up of an online portal for allowing victims to upload their complaints/FIRs for the purposes of investigation/compensation.

“The Petitioners were subjected to brutal torture, witnessing their family members being killed before their eyes.”, the plea states. he petitioners in their plea have informed the Court that they have escaped the violence in Manipur and reached the national capital with great difficultly. The petitioners have described in detail the horrors faced by them and their families in the ongoing violence.  The mother and brother of the 1st petitioner have lost their lives after being attacked by a mob. The 1st Petitioner’s father filed an FIR but no action was taken, the petitioners claim. The plea also states that women from the violent mob, assaulted the one-year-old nephew of the 1st Petitioner. The petition also says that the mob assaulted the 2nd Petitioner’s clothes and forced her to march to the Deputy Commissioner's building in Imphal. The police provided no assistance amidst the violence, the plea claims. The petitioners therefore seek directions for proper investigation of the crimes committed against them

“The Kuki tribal communities have a long-standing history of staying in the State of Manipur and as citizens of India, their fundamental rights of Article 14, 19 and 21 have been repeatedly denied. There is ample evidence to show that Kuki tribal communities have been targeted based on certain erroneous facts in the hate speech/interviews of ministers/state agencies.” the plea says.

Recently, the Supreme Court had issued a slew of directions in relation of Manipur violence, including the appointing of officer to monitor the CBI/SIT investigation and the constitution of a committee of retired women judges to monitor relief work.

Case Title: Jamnagaihkim Gangte and another V. State of Manipur and others W.P.(C) No. 823/2023