‘Manipur Violence Unprecedented, Govt Complying With Court Orders Selectively’: Justice Mridul

Mumbai: In an elaborate interview to The Hindustan Times, Chief Justice of the Manipur high court, Siddharth Mridul, has called the scale of violence in the state “unprecedented”, and expressed dissatisfaction with the state government’s “selective compliance” with the court's orders. Justice Mridul also expressed concerns over the overall inadequacy in addressing the judiciary’s security and infrastructural demands.

The 14-month long ethnic violence between the Meitei and the Kuki-Zo people that broke out on May 3, 2023, Justice Mridul said, has had a serious bearing on the judicial appointments in the region. In the interview given to Utkarsh Anand of HT, Justice Mridul said, appointment of judicial officers from the majority community in disturbed areas like Churachandpur, Kangpokpi, or Morch is not possible. “This limits our options, meaning judicial officers only from Scheduled Tribes can be posted in those districts. Coupled with a shortage of judicial officers, this complicates matters,” Justice Mridul said in the interview.

The high court, Justice Mridul said, has conducted interviews for appointments and that the government’s assistance is needed to finalise these new appointments. Due to the restricted deployments, Justice Mridul said that most judicial officers end up juggling multiple roles. “A district judge might also serve as a family court judge...,” he pointed out. 

Along with these specific deputations of judges on the basis of their ethnicity, Justice Mridul in the interview claimed that infrastructure too remains a challenge. 

Earlier this month, Manipur was hit by intense floods, killing four and stranding thousands of people. Justice Mridul said that the flood acted as a double whammy and further impacted judicial work.

Responding to a question on how the judiciary has taken care of security concerns of judges and other judicial staff, Justice Mridul said that security was the first concern he focussed on after his appointment [as the Chief Justice of Manipur high court] in October last year. “On the government response to it, I would say, our directions [for increased security] have been complied with selectively. Some decisions are still pending with them in view of the 'prevailing situation',” he said, adding that “…we talk to them [the state government] regularly and have given them a wishlist for the judiciary. There is a response from the government, but it would be over pitching to say that the response is satisfactory. It’s not at the pace at which we want them to respond."

Manipur chief minister Nongthombam Biren Singh on June 21 claimed that “peace would return to his state in two or three months” because of the priority given to resolving the 14-month-long violence by the new National Democratic Alliance government at the Centre.

Singh, speaking to the press from the state capital Imphal, said, “Violence is everywhere, and it has reduced in Manipur. Although the State has been going through a crisis for 14 months, the actual violence happened for half this period. This indicates there were seven months of peace with schools and business establishments reopening.” 

An action plan, Singh said, is being worked on following a high-security meeting chaired by Union home minister Amit Shah a few days ago. 

In Justice Mridul’s assessment, however, the efforts put in by Singh so far have not been to his “complete satisfaction”.

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