The apex court bench headed by CJI on Monday commenced hearing on a batch of petitions pertaining to ethnic violence in the state.
Attorney General R Venkataramani and Solicitor General Tushar Mehta told the top court that these SP-led SITs will look into ethnic clashes/offences and the state DGP and DIG will supervise these investigations. They gave details of the steps to be taken by the government and said the position in the state is very tense and any externally directed investigation will not inspire confidence.
The state DGP Rajiv Singh, who was summoned by the apex court during the last hearing, was present in the court to answer queries on the ethnic violence and steps taken by the administration so far, besides the segregation of cases for the purposes of effective investigation.
The CBI will probe 11 FIRs relating to serious crimes against women, including the parading of naked women and their sexual assault.
The government told the court that an when such crimes come to light, it will be handed over for probe to the CBI.
On August 1, the Supreme Court came down heavily on the Manipur Police. The top court said there was a complete breakdown of law and order and constitutional machinery in Manipur. It had rapped the state police for a “tardy” and “lethargic” probe of incidents of ethnic violence, especially those targeting women, and had summoned the DGP to answer its queries on August 7.