Pinning hopes on justice delivery system
- The People's Chronicle Editorial :: November 23, 2023 -

AT long last, 169 days to be exact, the terms of reference of the Commission of Inquiry appointed by the Government of India under section 3 of Commission of Inquiry Act, 1952 (60 of 1952) on June 4 last to probe the ethnic violence that has been going on between the Meitei/Meetei and Kuki-Chin communities in the northeastern Indian state of Manipur, have been finally published by the Government of Manipur as an Extraordinary Gazette on November 20, thus, fulfilling the legal necessity of making an official document to come into force and enter the public domain.

However, considering the fact that the three-member Commission of Inquiry headed by former chief justice of Gauhati High Court Ajai Lamba was appointed by the Government of India on the recommendation of the state government of Manipur, which was made way back on May 29 last, why it has taken so long for the gazette notification to see the light of day is baffling.

This is even more in the instant case so as the earlier arrangement of printing/publishing gazette notifications in the time-consuming letterpress process is said to have already been replaced by offset process and digital mimeograph, not to speak of the fact that it is an extraordinary gazette, which could be published whenever required unlike an ordinary gazette that has to wait for a week or so.

Of course, the delay in publication of the terms of reference in the State Gazette could not have in no way impended the works of the Commission of Inquiry, which had already set up two primary offices for holding public hearings, the head office in Room 104 of the Hotel Imphal (By The Classic) in Imphal, and the other as a camp office operating from Room 13 on the first floor of Heritage Building in the Major Dhyan Chand National Stadium in New Delhi.

In addition to these two locations, the Commission has also been empowered to hold hearing anywhere else in India "as the circumstances might demand".

As per the terms of reference, the Commission is to inquire into the causes and the spread of the violence and riots targeting members of different communities, and the Sequence of events and whether there were any lapses or dereliction of duty in this regard on the part of any of the responsible authorities and individuals.

It would also probe if adequate administrative measures had been taken to prevent and deal with the violence and the riots, and to consider such matters as may be found relevant in the course of the inquiry.

Additionally, the Commission would have to look into "complaints or allegations that may be made before the commission by any individual, or association, in such form and accompanied by such affidavits, as may be specified by the Commission", and the role of government officials as may be brought to its notice by the Government of Manipur.

As the Commission is supposed to "submit its report to the Central Government as soon as possible but not later than six months from the date of its first sitting", the day would not be far for the public to know the findings of the Inquiry Commission.

Alongside this Government-appointed Inquiry Commission, the Supreme Court of India had also constituted two committees to look into "different aspects" of the ethnic violence in Manipur.

While one committee has been assigned to oversee rehabilitation measures, the other committee has been tasked to investigate the nature of violence committed against women in the current violence.

Moreover, 42 Special Investigation Teams (SITs) have been activated to look into cases that have not been transferred to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).

With all these measures in place, one hopes to see that justice is served to all the innocent people who have unwittingly become victims of the senseless violence instigated by some people with nefarious agenda, even if their lives would not be the same ever again.

It is essential to ensure the faith of people in the justice delivery system is not shaken in a democratic country when the other two organs of the government have abandoned them to their own fate.