Express News Service
NEW DELHI: Taking suo moto cognisance of the video of two women being paraded naked in Manipur, the Supreme Court on Thursday asked the Central and Manipur governments to apprise it about the steps that shall be and have been taken to hold the perpetrators accountable.
Summoning the country’s topmost law officers — Attorney General R Venkataramani and Solicitor General Tushar Mehta — Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud expressed deep anguish about the incident and gave an ultimatum to the governments to either book the perpetrators of the crime or step aside to enable judiciary to take action.
Calling the incident as “simply unacceptable,” the CJI said that using women as an instrument in an area of communal strife to perpetrate gender violence amounted to gross violations and infractions of human rights. He said that it did not matter if the video was a recent one and from May.
“We are deeply disturbed by the women who were paraded in Manipur. It is high time that the government stepped up and took action. This is simply unacceptable. Using women as an instrument in an area of communal strife to perpetrate gender violence is unacceptable.
What is portrayed in the media and visuals that appeared shows gross constitutional violation. Infraction of human life using women as instruments of perpetrated violence is against constitutional democracy. It doesn’t have to be a video of yesterday, but we are very deeply concerned. What action has been taken by the government against the perpetrators since May? We will give some time to act, or else we will step in,” the CJI said.
Posting the pleas for July 28, the CJI also directed Manipur government to ensure that such incidents are not repeated and also apprise the court regarding immediate remedial, rehabilitative and preventive steps taken. While the Attorney General assured the CJI that the court’s concern would be conveyed to the government, Solicitor General Tushar Mehta said such incidents were unacceptable. “The government has initiated immediate steps to bring perpetrators to book after the video surfaced and the outcome will be placed before the court,” Mehta said.
Two Kuki-Zo women were paraded naked and were allegedly gang raped on May 4, a day after ethnic violence broke out in Manipur. The horrific incident came to light on Wednesday after a purported video went viral on social media.
Notably, the court, while dealing with a batch of pleas related to the ethnic violence in the state, had laid emphasis on the fact that it would only extend its judicial intervention to “humanitarian issues” and had portrayed itself as a facilitator for restoring peace in the state.
Also in top court
CBI challenges order to produce Yasin MalikThe CBI has approached SC, challenging the NIA court’s order in Jammu that issued warrant to jail authorities to produce Jammu Kashmir Liberation Front leader Yasin Malik. This order was made after Malik sought to appear in person to cross-examine prosecution witnesses in cases against him.
‘Cheetah deaths don’t paint a good picture’ Expressing concerns over the death of 40 per cent of cheetahs translocated from South Africa and Namibia to Kuno National Park in less than one year, the apex court on Thursday said the situation does not present a good picture. It sought Centre’s response on steps taken to prevent the decline in their numbers.
NEW DELHI: Taking suo moto cognisance of the video of two women being paraded naked in Manipur, the Supreme Court on Thursday asked the Central and Manipur governments to apprise it about the steps that shall be and have been taken to hold the perpetrators accountable.
Summoning the country’s topmost law officers — Attorney General R Venkataramani and Solicitor General Tushar Mehta — Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud expressed deep anguish about the incident and gave an ultimatum to the governments to either book the perpetrators of the crime or step aside to enable judiciary to take action.
Calling the incident as “simply unacceptable,” the CJI said that using women as an instrument in an area of communal strife to perpetrate gender violence amounted to gross violations and infractions of human rights. He said that it did not matter if the video was a recent one and from May. googletag.cmd.push(function() {googletag.display(‘div-gpt-ad-8052921-2’); });
“We are deeply disturbed by the women who were paraded in Manipur. It is high time that the government stepped up and took action. This is simply unacceptable. Using women as an instrument in an area of communal strife to perpetrate gender violence is unacceptable.
What is portrayed in the media and visuals that appeared shows gross constitutional violation. Infraction of human life using women as instruments of perpetrated violence is against constitutional democracy. It doesn’t have to be a video of yesterday, but we are very deeply concerned. What action has been taken by the government against the perpetrators since May? We will give some time to act, or else
we will step in,” the CJI said.
Posting the pleas for July 28, the CJI also directed Manipur government to ensure that such incidents are not repeated and also apprise the court regarding immediate remedial, rehabilitative and preventive steps taken. While the Attorney General assured the CJI that the court’s concern would be conveyed to the government, Solicitor General Tushar Mehta said such incidents were unacceptable. “The government has initiated immediate steps to bring perpetrators to book after the video surfaced and the outcome will be placed before the court,” Mehta said.
Two Kuki-Zo women were paraded naked and were allegedly gang raped on May 4, a day after ethnic violence broke out in Manipur. The horrific incident came to light on Wednesday after a purported video went viral on social media.
Notably, the court, while dealing with a batch of pleas related to the ethnic violence in the state, had laid emphasis on the fact that it would only extend its judicial intervention to “humanitarian issues” and had portrayed itself as a facilitator for restoring peace in the state.
Also in top court
CBI challenges order to produce Yasin Malik
The CBI has approached SC, challenging the NIA court’s order in Jammu that issued warrant to jail authorities to produce Jammu Kashmir Liberation Front leader Yasin Malik. This order was made after Malik sought to appear in person to cross-examine prosecution witnesses in cases against him.
‘Cheetah deaths don’t paint a good picture’
Expressing concerns over the death of 40 per cent of cheetahs translocated from South Africa and Namibia to Kuno National Park in less than one year, the apex court on Thursday said the situation does not present a good picture. It sought Centre’s response on steps taken to prevent the decline in their numbers.
