Violence against women in Manipur: Court-appointed committee submits reports to SC

Supreme Court-appointed committee comprising three woman judges to inquire into the violence against women in Manipur has submitted three reports

New Delhi: The Supreme Court-appointed committee comprising three woman judges to inquire into the violence against women in Manipur has submitted three reports before the apex court, stressing the need for reissuance of important identity documents, upgradation of compensation scheme and appointment of domain experts to facilitate its functioning.

A bench comprising CJI D.Y. Chandrachud and Justices J.B. Pardiwala and Manoj Misra ordered circulation of these reports for suggestions to the petitioners and Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, who appeared for the Centre and Manipur government. The bench directed that the suggestions will be collated by advocate Vrinda Grover, who will further share them with the Advocate General of the state of Manipur.

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In a short hearing, the Supreme Court said that the court-appointed committee has filed three reports, namely (1) A report highlighting the fact that several residents of Manipur may have lost their essential documents in the violence. The report calls for assistance in re-construction of Aadhar Cards, etc.; (2) The Manipur victims compensation scheme needs to be upgraded to bring it in conformity with the NALSA (National Legal Services Authority); (3) The proposal of the committee for the appointment of domain experts to facilitate its functioning. The top court directed listing of the batch of pleas on August 25 for passing certain procedural directions.

The Supreme Court had set up a committee comprising three woman judges — J&K High Court’s former Chief Justice Gita Mittal, Bombay High Court’s retired judge Shalini Phansalkar Joshi, and Delhi High Court’s former judge Asha Menon.

It had tasked the committee with collecting information related to violence against women in Manipur as well as monitoring the conditions at relief camps and deciding on compensation to victims. The committee has been entrusted with the payment of compensation and restitution to victims of violence.

The committee can issue directions to the state government to settle compensation for damages caused to the movable and immovable properties of persons affected by violence. It has been mandated to submit its updated status report on a fortnightly basis directly to the apex court.