Five FIRs have been registered by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) against the CRPF, Imphal Police and Assam Rifles personnel in connection with multiple cases of alleged fake encounters in Manipur.
The SIT was formed under the directions of the Supreme court in July 2017, following a petition filed before it to probe 1,528 cases of alleged extra-judicial killings in the state.
According to NDTV, the apex court had “ordered FIRs in 81 cases, including 32 probed by a commission of inquiry, 32 investigated by judicial authorities, 11 in which compensation was given and six probed by a commission headed by former Supreme Court Judge Santosh Hegde.”
According to Rediff.com, in July 2018, the Supreme Court had pulled up the CBI over its delay in filing FIRs against accused in multiple cases of fake encounters in the state.
At that hearing, CBI Director Alok Verma had told the court that the SIT had already filed two FIRs in the matter and would file five more by August 2018. Verma had also told the Apex court that “14 persons had been chargesheeted in two cases for murder, criminal conspiracy and destruction of evidence under the provisions of IPC.” Rediff.com reported.
According to PTI, the Supreme Court had, on 12 November 2018, dismissed a plea filed by some Manipur police personnel seeking recusal of the judges of the bench in Manipur fake encounter cases in which the CBI special investigation team (SIT) is carrying out a probe.
At the hearing, a two-judge bench comprising justices Madan B Lokur and UU Lalit noted that the petitioners had no reason to doubt the SIT and the probe conducted by it in these cases.
The bench also emphasised on maintaining the the institutional integrity of the judiciary and the CBI.
The apex court’s order came on a plea filed by some Manipur Police personnel who had sought recusal of judges of the bench, claiming they had earlier termed some accused, who were charge-sheeted by the SIT in the encounter cases, as “murderers”.
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