62 cases of extra-judicial killings in Manipur; SC orders CBI probe, CM welcomes ruling
Source: The Sangai Express / PTI
N Delhi/Imphal, July 14 2017:
The Supreme Court today directed a probe by the CBI into the alleged extra-judicial killings by the army, the Assam Rifles and the Manipur Police in Manipur.
A bench of justices MB Lokur and UU Lalit asked the CBI Director to appoint a team of officers to conduct a probe into 62 alleged killings .
Chief Minister N Biren Singh said that he welcomes the ruling of the Supreme Court
Responding to a query from The Sangai Express, the Chief Minister said that he and his Government welcome the decision of the Supreme Court and added that as the Government is committed to the welfare of the people, anything good for the people is always welcome .
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The Court was hearing a PIL seeking a probe and compensation in the alleged 1,528 extra-judicial killings in Manipur from 2000 to 2012 by security forces and police .
The judgement was passed in connection with a writ petition filed by the Extra Judicial Execution Victim Families Association Manipur (EEVFAM) and Human Rights Alert Executive Director Babloo Loitongbam .
While welcoming the Supreme Court order, Babloo Loitongbam said that the CBI would investigate into 35 fake encounter cases involving 66 victims in the first phase .
These 35 cases include five cases (32 victims) already investigated by the Commission of Enquiry, 16 cases (19 victims) already investigated by High Court and Judicial Enquiry Commissions, eight cases (eight victims) already investigated by the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) and six cases (seven victims) already enquired by the Justice Santosh Hegde Commission instituted at the instructions of the Supreme Court .
The Supreme Court would pursue the case further in the second week of January next year.
The ball is now in the court of CBI, Babloo said .
One must wait and see how promptly the CBI investigates the cases, Babloo said while praying that the landmark judgement of the Supreme Court may herald complete abolition of fake encounter cases from the soil of Manipur .
EEVFAM president Renu Takhellambam said that they have been eagerly waiting for such a Court verdict since a long time back .
Informing that the case has been going on since 2012, Renu said that they were once disheartened thinking they might not get justice .
"Though late, we are now hopeful that justice would be delivered to all the victims", she said .
She also appealed to all people to come forward and share their experiences with the CBI's investigation team so that all those security personnel involved in fake encounters are given exemplary punishment .
On April 20, the army had told the apex Court that it cannot be subjected to FIRs for carrying out anti-militancy operations in insurgency-prone States like Jammu and Kashmir and Manipur, while alleging local bias in judicial inquiries conducted against it in these regions, which have tarnished its image .
"In every military operation, the army cannot be disbelieved.
Every judicial inquiry cannot be against the army.
The alleged extra-judicial killing cases in Manipur are not cases of massacre, rather these are cases of military operations," the Centre had told the Court .
The bench had also pulled up the Manipur Government for not taking action on such alleged fake encounters by the armed forces and asked if it was "not supposed to do anything" .
The army had told the Court that the judicial probes conducted into alleged extra-judicial killing charges were "biased" and slanted against them due to local factors .
It had alleged that the district Judges, who were locals, had conducted inquiries into the alleged killings and local factors came in the way of the probe reports, which went against the armed forces .
The Court was earlier told that there were 265 cases of deaths that have to be examined and there were various reports of the commission of inquiry in which serious allegations have been levelled against armed forces personnel .
The apex Court had earlier asked the Centre to segregate the cases related to the armed forces from the list of 265 incidents of extra-judicial killings in Manipur .
The Centre had said that out of the 282 cases, which were referred to it for verification, 70 matters were found to be related to the army and Assam Rifles, while the rest concerned the State police .
In July last year, the apex Court had directed a thorough probe into the alleged fake encounter killings in Manipur saying the use of "excessive or retaliatory force" by the armed forces or police was not permissible in 'disturbed areas' under the controversial Armed Force Special Powers Act.