SW News: The Indian Supreme Court expressed its outrage on Tuesday calling the probe conducted by the state police "tardy" and "lethargic," and observing that there is a complete collapse of law and order as well as the constitutional machinery in Manipur.
The apex court criticized the law enforcement apparatus' failure to control unchecked ethnic violence claiming that the state police have lost control of the law and order situation in the state.
The court also sought the personal presence of the Director General of Police (DGP) while hearing the petitions.
The bench led by Chief Justice D Y Chandrachud called the May 4 video of two women being paraded nude deeply disturbing. The court requested information from the state government regarding the incident's exact date of occurrence.
The bench also requested information on the number of suspects mentioned in the more than 6,000 First Information Reports (FIRs) filed thus far as well as the actions taken to arrest them.
Justice Chandrachud said there has been a long delay in registering FIR in video cases. “There is a catastrophic breakdown of law and order and constitutional apparatus in the state. The investigation is moving so slowly, FIRs are filed so slowly, no arrests have been made, no statements have been taken, etc,” the chief justice said.
Tensions in Manipur had risen after the video appeared. The state told the bench it had lodged 6,523 FIRs in May. Solicitor General Tushar Mehta arguing on behalf of the Centre and the Manipur government before the court said the state police filed a "zero" FIR in the video case. Any police station can receive a zero FIR, regardless of its territorial jurisdiction, and transfer it to the station where the incident occurred.
Mehta informed the top court that seven people, including a minor, were arrested by the Manipur police in connection with the video case.
The bench, which also includes justices J B Pardiwala and Manoj Misra, took note of the claims made by the two women's attorney Nizam Pasha that the CBI had requested that they appear and give testimony before it during the day.
There were rumors that the police had turned the vulnerable women over to the raging mob. The Apex Court had called the footage "horrendous" on Monday. It raised the possibility of creating a Special Investigation Team or a panel of retired judges to supervise the investigation.