Manipur: Centre, state must act or we will pass orders: Supreme Court | India News

NEW DELHI: Deeply disturbed by the horrific video from Manipur, the Supreme Court on Thursday said the incident was “completely unacceptable in a constitutional democracy” and asked the Union and Manipur governments to take action, failing which “we will pass orders”.
The court sought answers from the Centre and the state by July 28 on steps taken to bring the perpetrators to book and to prevent such incidents.
After summoning attorney general R Venkataramani and solicitor general Tushar Mehta to the courtroom at 10.30am, a bench of CJI DY Chandrachud and Justices PS Narsimha and Manoj Misra said, “We were very very disturbed by the video that has emerged depicting the parading of two women naked in Manipur. We are very deeply concerned. Parading women naked is simply unacceptable. Using women as an instrument in a strife-torn area to perpetrate gender violence is completely unacceptable. It also constituted a gross violation of their human rights.”The CJI added, “The video may be from the month of May. But that makes no difference. We are seized of the matter concerning violence in Manipur. We want the governments, both the Union and Manipur, to take action, otherwise we will pass orders.”

Sharing the court’s concern, Mehta said, “The government is also of the firm view that such incidents are completely unacceptable anywhere in the country. I was not aware of the issue for which the law officers’ presence was sought. Otherwise, I would have summoned from the state details of the steps taken to bring the perpetrators to book and steps to prevent such incidents in future.”

In its brief order, the bench said, “The court is deeply disturbed by the visuals which have appeared in the media since yesterday about the perpetration of sexual assault and violence on the two women in Manipur.
“We are of the view that the court must be apprised of the steps which have been taken by the state government to hold the perpetrators accountable and also to ensure that such incidents are not repeated during the strife in Manipur. The visuals which have appeared in the media would indicate gross constitutional violations and infraction of human rights.”