Constitutional machinery broke down in Manipur from May to July: Supreme Court | India News
In a rasping criticism of the N Biren Singh-led BJP government that will provide ammunition to the opposition which has been demanding imposition of President’s rule in the state citing collapse of law and order, a bench of Chief Justice DY Chandrachud and Justices JB Pardiwala and Manoj Misra said the state government’s status report pointed to delayed registration of FIRs, lethargic investigation, big delays in recording of statements and only a small number of arrests.
When solicitor general Tushar Mehta suggested that the lapses could be because of the volatile situation on the ground and said the central government swung into action the moment the horrific strip-parading video went viral, which the court took cognisance of suo motu, the CJI said, “I think for two months, the situation was not even conducive for recording FIRs. It gives us the impression that from the beginning of May until the end of July, there was no law.
“There was absolute breakdown of constitutional machinery in the state to the point that one could not record an FIR. The police could not make arrests. You (the state government) may be right that the police could not make arrests because the situation was out of control. A police officer could not enter a locality to arrest the accused.”
Assuming that the ground situation was such to prevent police from taking action against the accused, does it not point to the fact that there is a complete breakdown of law-and-order machinery in the state? One thing which is obvious and clear from the record…for a period of more than two months — from May 4 till July 27 — the police were not in charge… Either they were incapable of doing it or they were unwilling to do it Can the state police investigate 6,000-odd cases? The state police are incapable of investigating the cases. It is so obvious that they lost control over the situation
SC Bench
The CJI further said, “Assuming that the ground situation was such to prevent police from taking action against the accused, does it not point to the fact that there was a complete breakdown of the law and order machinery in the state? If the law and order machinery cannot protect the people, where do they go?”
The SG tried to assuage the bench and said, “That last observation (breakdown of constitutional machinery and law and order machinery) may not be correct as we are a little away from that and the situation is coming back to normal now. The moment we came to know of the viral video, we not only transferred the probe to the CBI but we also requested the SC to monitor it. There cannot be anything more transparent than this.”
The SG informed the court that the state police had registered around 6,500 FIRs for various offences during the ethnic strife. The bench pointed out that the CBI could investigate only a few heinous offences. “What about the rest? Can the state police investigate 6,000-odd cases? What about the remaining cases? The state police are incapable of investigating the cases. It is so obvious that they lost control over the situation,” the CJI said.
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Supreme Court lashes out at Manipur govt, police, says ‘Complete break down of constitutional machinery’
When the SG protested the CJI’s observations against the state police and said such remarks without reading the status report could have serious repercussions for the already-tense tense situation in the state, the bench said in the 11 cases of serious crimes against women and children, only seven arrests had been made.
The bench said, “One thing which is obvious and clear from the record now is that for a period of more than two months — from May 4 till July 27 — the police were not in charge. They may have been making some perfunctory arrests. But they were not in charge. Either they were incapable of doing it or they were unwilling to do it.”
The SC will take up the matter on Monday to decide the mechanism to be adopted for expeditious investigation into cases depending on the gravity of the offence.
