NIA submits reports on Jiribam killings, Manipur HC gives one month to file chargesheet

The Hindu

4 days ago

The National Investigation Agency (NIA) has submitted two sealed reports to the Manipur High Court on the progress it has made in the Jiribam case in which six women and children of the Meitei community were abducted and later found dead in the Barak River in November last year. Taking it on record, the court told the probe agency to submit a detailed report in terms of the chargesheet within one month.
This comes after a Bench of Chief Justice K. Somashekar and Justice Ahanthem Bimol Singh had, earlier this month, said that it had been a considerable time since the incident and yet no chargesheet had been filed in the case. It had then directed the NIA to submit a detailed report on the investigation before it.
In the hearing on July 24, the NIA submitted the detailed progress reports related to the case in two sealed covers, the High Court's order said. It added that considering the 'peculiar facts and circumstances' of the case and submissions made by the NIA and the State's Advocate General, the reports will remain in the custody of the Registrar for 'safe custody' until further orders.
However, the court did not specify in the order what circumstances it was referring to beyond noting the 'concern' expressed by the Deputy Solicitor General of India (DGSI) representing the NIA and the Advocate General of the State.
The High Court noted, 'It is made clear that if there is no progress made, the matter would be viewed seriously.'
The court noted that the DSGI had submitted that the NIA was 'in the process of completion of the investigation and filing of charge sheet against the culprits/accused'. The court also said it was taking on record the submissions of the petitioners, who said that after the filing of FIR, no action seemed to have been taken.
The court said it will take up the case for next hearing on August 25.
The developments follow a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) the Manipur High Court has been hearing over the case in Jiribam. The PIL was filed by office-bearers of the civil society organisation Uripok Apunba Lup, a conglomerate of dozens of local clubs in the Uripok area. They sought detailed progress reports, and speedy and fair probe into the incident.
After the November flare-up in the ethnic conflict in Manipur's Jiribam district, the NIA had taken up two other cases for investigation apart from the abduction and killing of the six women and children from the Meitei community.
One was for the alleged rape and burning alive of a Kuki-Zo woman in Jiribam on November 7, and the alleged attack on a CRPF post in Jiribam's Borobekra on November 11, in which 10 armed persons were gunned down.