Outdated police probe techniques responsible for pendency: AMBA chief
Source: Hueiyen News Service / NNN

Imphal, June 24 2013: Senior advocate and All Manipur Bar Association (AMBA) president Khaidem Mani has pointed out on Monday that Manipur has become the top among the North Eastern states in highest number of pendency of criminal cases due to the outdated investigation techniques of Manipur Police.

To a query, Mani told Newmai News Network today that Manipur has been recorded as the top state among the North Eastern states of India having the highest pendency of criminal cases with 86.7 percent in the latest report of the National Crime Report Bureau (NCRB) because of the outdated investigation methods of the state police.

NCRB in its latest report has said that among the top three states in the North East which have recorded the highest pendency of crime cases, Manipur has been placed at the top followed by Meghalaya at 78.4 percent and Assam at the third with 61.2 percent, Mani said.

He said that as per the report the total number of cases registered for investigation for the state of Manipur is 17, 168 and this number includes the 2274 criminal cases now being handled by Manipur Police.

However, there are still more than 14, 897 pending cases which have left untouched till now, he informed and said citing the NCRB report which said that only 95 out of 2179 total cases have been chargesheeted so far in the final report of the state police.

Mani said this has happened due to the outdated investigation techniques used by the state police and this has been highlighted well.

The senior advocate also pointed out that during the last 30 long years as much as 1, 39, 0, 12 FIR cases for unlawful activities alone were registered in the state and a few hundreds were chargesheeted leaving the rest untouched by citing lack of witnesses.

This figure is mentioned in the 16-page counter affidavit for the state of Manipur respondent number-2 filed by Manipur Principal Secretary (Home) Dr J Suresh Babu in connection with the appeal before the Supreme Court by the Extrajudicial Execution Victims Families Association, Manipur (EEVFAM) for more than extrajudicial killings in the state, he said.

Considering the above counter affidavit, the NCRB report needs more updates, he urged.

In any case, the administrative of justice has to be strengthened to maintain the rule of law, Mani suggested.

He also said latest scientific investigation by Manipur Police is needed to make a significant decrease in the number of pending criminal cases in the state and for this special training for the police is also required at the same time.

Mani further suggested that there should be a separation between the police maintaining law and order and who are probing FIR cases.

"There is not a single militant in the state who has been convicted for waging war against Indian Government through proper investigation by the police and trial by any court in the state," Mani added.

Comment