The Supreme Court on 30 July asked the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) to take a "rational" decision if arrest and custodial interrogation of accused was needed into the alleged extra-judicial killings in Manipur by Army, Assam Rifles and the state police.
A bench comprising Justice Madan B Lokur and Justice UU Lalit questioned the CBI chief Alok Kumar Verma , who was present in court in pursuant to court's order, why no arrest had been made after it was informed that the agency has filed two chargesheets in trial court on the morning of 30 July, naming fourteen accused.
Have you (CBI) arrested anyone during the investigation? Was there any custodial interrogation? Normally arrest is essential for the investigation.SC Bench
The CBI chief replied that it has not arrested anyone because it could not find any reason to arrest them as it doesn't have anything to recover from them (accused) after almost 30 years.
At this, the bench slammed the CBI and asked, “If a man rapes a woman nothing will be recovered, but you will not arrest the person because nothing could be recovered?”
The court asked: "So, you want Manipur to be surrounded by murderers (as accused were not arrested). According to your chargesheets, they are murderers, yet you allow them to roam around in the streets of Imphal? At least 14 murderers (who were named in the recently filed chargesheet) are roaming around in Manipur. What will happen to the society if this is allowed?"
The court, however, did not pass any directive to arrest the accused but left it to the CBI to take "rational" call on whether it wants to arrest the accused, take them into custody, send them to judicial custody, or not arrest them.
Progress in Investigation ‘Slow’ & ‘Pathetic’: SC
"Not satisfied" with the pace of investigation into the alleged fake encounter in Manipur, the bench last week had sought the personal appearance of CBI director on 30 July to decide the steps to be taken to expedite the process. During the hearing, the CBI chief told the court that five more final reports will be filed in separate cases by 31 August.
Target is to complete probe in 41 cases, said the CBI chief, adding that chargesheets in 20 more cases will be filed by the year end and probe in remaining 14 cases will continue.
“By your estimate, we don’t see light in this till March 2019,” said the bench, while observing that the progress in investigation was “pathetic”, and questioned the slow pace.
‘System’ Slowing Us Down: CBI
Attorney General KK Venugopal, appearing for the CBI, told the court that the “system” is slowing down the CBI, and that it has to follow CBI manual as per which it has to go a through six-seven step vetting process. The bench then cut short the six-seven steps of scrutiny process to three.
It also ordered the inclusion of more officers in the SIT to "expedite" the investigation, and posted the matter for hearing on 20 August also asking CBI chief to remain present in court on that day.
The court also pulled up CBI for filing FIRs against dead persons, who were victims.
Last week, the bench had said it was tired of the agency's "snake and ladder game" and it was not satisfied with the pace of the probe while summoning its director to explain the timeline and also the manner of the probe.
‘1,528 Cases of Extra-Judicial Killings in Manipur’
SC was upset with the CBI on its failure to submit final investigation reports, which the CBI had assured to be filed by 27 July, but during the hearing, the CBI had instead wanted more time to file final reports.
The court was hearing a PIL seeking a probe into as many as 1,528 cases of extra-judicial killings in Manipur.
On 14 July, 2017, the apex court set up the Special Investigation Team (SIT) comprising CBI officers and ordered registration of FIRs and investigation into the alleged extra-judicial killings in Manipur.
The court had ordered the registration of FIRs in 81 cases including 32 probed by a Commission of Inquiry, 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.
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