The Supreme Court has mandated that victims and their families involved in 20 cases linked to the Manipur Violence receive copies of the chargesheets filed against the accused, as well as legal counsel to assist them in ongoing trial proceedings in Guwahati. A bench comprising Chief Justice Surya Kant, Justice Joymalya Bagchi, and Justice Vipul Pancholi was reviewing pleas concerning the trials of sexual violence incidents that occurred during the Manipur ethnic crisis. The court had previously tasked the CBI with investigating certain cases and arranged for Special Investigation Teams (SITs) to handle others, with former Maharashtra DGP Dattatray Padsalgikar assigned to oversee these investigations.
During the proceedings, it was brought to the Court’s attention that despite prior orders for the CBI to keep the families informed, they remained unaware of the investigation status from 2023 to 2026, especially concerning rape cases, where the accused were being treated leniently. The Court emphasized the importance of providing victims and their families access to the chargesheets, noting that they were often uninformed about their cases because the trials had shifted to Guwahati.
To enhance the victims’ engagement in the trials, the Court instructed the Manipur and Assam State Legal Services Authorities to appoint legal aid lawyers proficient in the local dialects for each victim or family member. It established that if a lawyer from Manipur is chosen, their travel and accommodation costs would be covered, alongside allowing one family member to travel to Guwahati for trial participation. The Manipur State Legal Services Authority was tasked with bearing initial expenses, with the provision that if funds are insufficient, the National Legal Services Authority would supply additional financial support from the legal aid reserves.
The legal aid lawyers may assist in court on behalf of the victims or independently, allowing for a broad presentation of their claims before the Special Judge at Guwahati. The Court also suggested that victims or their family members could provide statements virtually, which would alleviate the need for travel to Guwahati. Moreover, Padsalgikar reported that substantial investigations were ongoing, with SITs in eight districts focusing on serious offences, and that out of 31 cases referred to the CBI, chargesheets had been presented in 20, while five FIRs were dismissed. The Court mandated a six-month timeline for completing investigations into the remaining six cases and ensured that if further chargesheets were filed, the same protocols would follow. The Court instructed Padsalgikar to ensure timely completion of the investigations by the SITs and CBI as ordered.