Manipur incident grossest of rights violation: Supreme Court says if govt won't act, it will

Satya Prakash

New Delhi, July 20

Taking suo motu cognisance of a video of two women allegedly being paraded naked in Manipur, the Supreme Court on Thursday asked the Centre and the state government to inform it about the action taken against the perpetrators.

“The court is deeply disturbed by the visuals which have appeared in the media since yesterday depicting the perpetration of sexual assault and violence on women in Manipur. It is grossest of Constitutional and human rights violation…. Using women as instruments for perpetrating violence is simply unacceptable in a constitutional democracy,” a three-judge Bench led by CJI DY Chandrachud said.

Simply unacceptable

The court is deeply disturbed by the visuals…. Using women as instruments for perpetrating violence is simply unacceptable. —CJI-led Bench

“The video may be from the month of May, but that does not make any difference… We will give a little time to the government…If the government does not act, we will,” said the Bench which also included Justice PS Narasimha and Justice Manoj Misra.

The top court directed the Centre and the state government to take immediate remedial, rehabilitative and preventive steps and inform it of the action taken before the next date of hearing on July 28. It directed the Union Home Secretary and the Manipur Chief Secretary to file affidavits in this regard.

“This court must be apprised of the steps which have been by the government to hold the perpetrators accountable and ensure that such incidents are not repeated,” the Bench said. At the request of the Bench, Attorney General R Venkataramani and Solicitor General Tushar Mehta were present during the brief proceedings.