Supreme Court Allows NIA's Plea To Transfer 8 Criminal Cases From Manipur To Assam

The Supreme Court today (November 26) allowed the transfer petition filed by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) for the transfer of 8 criminal cases pending before the NIA, Special Court in the district Imphal, State of Manipur, to the NIA Special Court, Guwahati, Assam.

A bench of Justices J.B. Pardiwala and R. Mahadevan allowed the NIA's transfer petition taking into consideration prayer made by the NIA that the situation in the State of Manipur was not conducive for conducting a free and fair trial.

The 8 criminal matters, unrelated to each other, are under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967. They were subsequently transferred from the Manipur Police to the NIA for investigation.

The Court therefore ordered: "This transfer petition, under Section 13(2) of the NIA Act, 2008 and Section 406 CrPC, 1973, is at the instance of the NIA (MHA), praying for transfer of the following cases from the NIA, Special Court, in Imphal, State of Manipur to NIA Special Court, Guwahati, Assam. We have heard Ms. Aishwarya Bhati, learned ASG for NIA, and learned counsel for accused persons in the eight cases referred to above. The transfer has been prayed for essentially on grounds that the situation at the State of Manipur is not conductive for the purpose of conducting free and fair trial in the cases referred above. In such circumstances, the NIA has requested to transfer to the NIA Special Court, Guwahati."

The bench also took notice of the fact that the Court on August 25, 2023, had ordered the transfer of 27 CBI cases from the State of Manipur to Assam having regard to the situation prevailing in Manipur.

Before the Court, the Counsel on behalf of the different respondents appeared including Senior Advocate Colin Gonsalves. While Gonsalves prayed that the trial may be transferred to Delhi, others such as Advocate Siddhartha Borgohain prayed that it may be transferred to Mizoram or Meghalaya. He stated that Manipur has only one NIA Court.

However, Justice Pardiwala remarked that the trials would have to be transferred to one State only. Further, Advocate Ahanthem Henry (for respondent 13) expressed that it is not feasible to transfer from Manipur to Guwahati as the air ticket is expensive whereas, the roads are all blocked. He stated that the accused person would not be able to afford it. He said: "I am a carpenter..all roads are blocked by the militants..I am not in custody. I am out on bail.I am from kuki community."

To this, Justice Pardiwala stated that it will be NIA's responsibility to ensure the safety. Taking this as an important consideration, the Court further added in its order: "Some respondents expressed apprehension that it may be difficult for the clients to travel from Manipur to Assam, more particularly those accused on bail. To take care of such apprehension, we permit those accused on bail to join the proceedings through video conferencing."

Case Details: NATIONAL INVESTIGATION AGENCY Vs MD. NOOR HUSSAIN TOMBA NUR HASAN., T.P.(Crl.) No. 502-509/2024

Appearances: Senior Advocate Colin Gonsalves, Advocates Siddharth Borgohain and Ahanthem Henry