'Horrendous', says SC on Manipur shame

New Delhi: The Supreme Court Monday termed as “horrendous” the video of two women being paraded naked in Manipur amid reports that the police handed them over to the rioting mob, asked searching questions over delayed registration of the FIR and mooted the idea of setting up a committee of retired judges or an SIT to oversee the probe.

Describing the violence perpetrated against women as one of "unprecedented magnitude", the top court refused to consider vehement submissions of lawyer and BJP leader Bansuri Swaraj that similar alleged incidents in oppositionruled states like West Bengal, Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh and Kerala be also taken note of.

Seeking report about the ac:tion taken by the state in around 6,000 cases related to the ethnic conflict, a bench headed by Chief Justice D Y Chandrachud said Manipur police cannot be allowed to continue with its probe in view of the news reports that it were policemen who virtually handed over the women to the mob.

The bench asked why the state police took 14 days to register an FIR. “What was the police doing? Why was an FIR in video case transferred to magisterial court on June 24 after one month and three days?” asked the bench.

“This is horrendous. There are media reports that these women were handed over to the mob by the police. We also do not want the police to handle it,” said the bench, asking what stood in the way of registering an FIR immediately after the incident.

The court thwarted attempts by Swaraj to draw a parallel between the crimes in Manipur and those in opposition-ruled states.

"Presently, we are dealing with something which is of unprecedented magnitude and pertains mainly to the crimes against women... There is a situation of communal strife in Manipur. So what we say is that there is no gainsaying that there are crimes against women taking place in West Bengal as well," it told Swaraj.

Oppn taunts PM for 'hiding behind ministers'

Opposition members alleged that Prime Minister Narendra Modi was hiding behind his ministers to evade speaking on the Manipur issue and insulting parliamentary democracy by not coming to the House.

Congress general secretary Randeep Surjewala said the Modi government is taking "revenge" on Manipur and its people and is trampling on the dignity of Parliament.

He said there should be a comprehensive discussion on Manipur and the prime minister should answer.

HIGHLIGHTS OF SC HEARING IN MANIPUR CASE

• SC terms "horrendous" video of two women being paraded naked in Manipur amid reports police handed them over to the rioting mob.
• SC moots idea of setting up of committee of retired judges or an SIT to oversee probe.
• SC seeks reports about actions taken by state in around 6,000 cases related to ethnic strife and said Manipur police cannot be allowed to continue with its probe in view of news reports that it were policemen who virtually handed over the victims to the rioters. (PTI)