SUPREME COURT ASKS SIT TO EXPEDITE PROBE INTO EXTRA-JUDICIAL KILLING IN MANIPUR

The Supreme Court has directed the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI's) SIT to expedite the probe into alleged extra-judicial killings and fake encounters by the army, Assam Rifles and police in Manipur. A bench of Justice Madan B. Lokur and Justice U. Lalit asked the special investigation team (SIT) to first complete the ongoing probe in 13 cases of the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC).

The bench asked the SIT that after completing probe in NHRC cases, it should investigate other cases dealt by the judicial inquiries, cases in which high court had given its findings, cases dealt by a commission headed by former Supreme Court judge Justice Santosh Hegde, matters relating to commissions of inquiry. The court also asked the Manipur government and its police to make available the records of these cases to the SIT. On February 12, the court had slammed the SIT for not properly probing alleged extra-judicial killings and asked why FIRs were lodged against the victims and not against officers. The court was hearing a PIL seeking a probe into as many as 1,528 cases of extra-judicial killings in Manipur.

On July 14, 2017, the apex court had constituted the SIT comprising five CBI officers and ordered registration of FIRs and investigation into alleged extra-judicial killings in Manipur. The court, which was hearing a PIL seeking probe into 1,528 alleged extra-judicial killings, had ordered registration of FIR in 81 cases including 32 probed by a Commission of Enquiry, 32 investigated by judicial authorities, 11 in which compensation was awarded and six probed by the commission headed by former Supreme Court judge Santosh Hegde. The court now posted the matter for April 16.