A triumph of the common people
Dr Th Suresh Singh *
Lakshmi Kanta Mohapatra - First Chief Justice of Manipur High Court sworn-in ceremony at Raj Bhavan on 10 July :: Pix - DIPR
This is triumph of common people through judiciary over evil/insensitive Govt. In the rarest of rare occasion, Manipur Chief Secretary O. Nabakishore Singh attended
High Court on 22/02/2016 as per its summon and assured Chief Justice Laxmikanta Mohapatra and Justice Kh. Nobin that Chairman, MHRC, will be activated within 3
months.
When the Chief Justice reminded him about the consequences of non-fulfilment of the same, the C/S again assured the court that the same will be implemented within
the stipulated time. The court further directed to list the matter after 8 weeks and submit a compliance report within 1 week of the same.
The insensitive Govt. is now forced to act after many lame excuses for the last 6 years. It is, however, unfortunate that the new Chief Secretary has to bear the blunt of the blame for no fault of his. In previous hearing on 27/1/2016, the court has directed State Chief Secretary O. Nabakishore Singh to appear before the bench and explain the factual position of the Govt. on 8/2/2016.
In that hearing in the High Court, the Govt. Counsel, A.G., told the court the non-availability of space/room as one
of the reasons for non-functioning of MHRC - a surprise admission indeed. The government was trying to negate MHRC in one pretext or the other in the state for these years.
However, with Chief Justice Mahapatra repeatedly telling Govt advocate in various hearings about his intend of activating MHRC before his retirement, the Govt has no alternative but to act. Worth to remember is that this PIL no. 4 of 2014 is in the court for the last 2yr and 2 month as it was filed on 17/01/2014.
This is about 15th hearing or so. MHRC remains non-functional in our state since May 2010 i.e. almost for 6 years thus depriving the poor and the have-nots to represent
their cases with least spending. This judgement will give HHRC to function smoothly and render the expected public service. At last, Manipur will be getting a functioning HRC. Long live judiciary system; all of us should be thankful to our Hon’ble State High Court.
The petitioner would like to stress that, though our various individuals/NGOs are fighting for human rights tirelessly in the state by organising various seminars/public rallies etc., legal option seems to be the least one practised. Hence, the petitioner would like to appeal to all concerned to fight the same together by having a consortium of dedicated lawyers who can work with minimum/ free legal fee. Many such lawyers are available in our society. I would like to execute the same.
In fact, we should compel the Govt/ concerned authorities to function institutions like HRC/RTI etc. through legal system. It is time that we resort to and have faith in our legal system.
It is also time that our newspapers/ channels cover such cases extensively for mass awareness. Hence, the same appeal to my media friends. I still remember a previous PIL in this matter by one gentleman. In spite of the same court order, it failed to activate the Commission because of lack of persuasion from the previous petitioner/lawyer. With this hearing, all of us can look forward with hope.
As stated in various press releases, Advocate Dr. R.K Deepak appeared on behalf of the petitioner without any legal fee for which the petitioner is thankful to him. Long live
judiciary system; all of us should be thankful to our Hon’ble State High Court.
* Dr Th Suresh Singh wrote this article for The Sangai Express
The writer is the Ex-Director, Health Services. He can be contacted on drsuresh2059(AT)gmail(DOT)com
This article was posted on February 29, 2016.
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