The Supreme Court has decided to transfer the trials of 27 cases of sexual violence related to the Manipur ethnic violence being probed by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) to Assam.A three-judge Bench, comprising Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud and Justices JB Pardiwala and Manoj Misra, has directed the Chief Justice of the Gauhati High Court to designate judicial magistrates and sessions judges in Guwahati, Assam, to oversee the trials of these 27 cases.Flash:#SupremeCourt on Friday said the trial in the Manipur violence cases being probed by the #CBI will take place in neighbouring #Assam and asked the Chief Justice of the Gauhati High Court to nominate one or more judicial officers to deal with the matters. #Manipur pic.twitter.com/1ouZvARLhG— Yuvraj Singh Mann (@yuvnique) August 25, 2023To ensure convenience and safety, the victims and witnesses involved in these cases will have the option to provide evidence virtually through video-conferencing from their locations in Manipur.The decision to transfer the trials came after Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, representing the Manipur government, proposed that the CBI cases be shifted to Assam due to security concerns and certain reservations regarding judges affiliations within particular ethnic communities in Manipur.Not about who suffered more: CJI on Manipur violence cases transfer to AssamSenior counsel Colin Gonsalves, however, objected to the relocation of CBI cases to Assam, suggesting instead that they be moved to Mizoram. Gonsalves argued for trials to take place in the hills, to which the Chief Justice responded by emphasising practicality over assessing who suffered more.“There have been victims in valleys, and in hills. It would be difficult for people who suffered in valleys to travel to hills, and the other way round. We are not on… who suffered more…just the practical difficulty,” the CJI said.The Bench has urged the Chief Justice of the Gauhati High Court to designate Chief Judicial Magistrates and Sessions Judges in Guwahati who are proficient in one or more languages spoken in Manipur.In its order, the Bench declared, “All applications for the production of accused, remand, judicial custody, extension of custody and other proceedings in connection with the investigation are allowed to be conducted in the online mode bearing in mind both the distance and security issues at the courts that will be designated to conduct the trial.”To avoid unnecessary travel and transit, the court ordered that when judicial custody of the accused is granted, it should be permitted within the state of Manipur. Additionally, the statements of witnesses under Section 164 of the Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC) will be recorded in the presence of a local magistrate in Manipur or the witnesses residing location outside Manipur.The Supreme Court also instructed the Acting Chief Justice of Manipur to nominate magistrates for these specific purposes. It further mandated that test identification parades occur under the supervision of a Manipur-based magistrate, and applications such as arrests and warrants are to be conducted online.The ethnic conflict between the Meitei and Kuki communities in Manipur led to violence following a rally by the All Tribal Students Union of Manipur (ATSUM) on May 3. The state has since experienced prolonged unrest for over four months, necessitating the deployment of paramilitary forces by the Central government to restore order.
