The Supreme Court on Monday questioned the Manipur government, while referring to media reports, about the purloining of a “large number of weapons” from police stations.
“Have they been recovered?” Chief Justice of India D.Y. Chandrachud asked Solicitor General of India Tushar Mehta, appearing for the Manipur government.
The court however remained firm that its intervention would only extend to the humanitarian issues involved.
“We do not want these proceedings to be a platform for further escalation of violence… We are not running the security apparatus or the governance in the State… Then what is the elected government for? Let us not do it in a partisan manner here,” Chief Justice Chandrachud told the lawyers where the court intends to draw the line.
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Mr. Mehta insisted that the “situation is slowly returning to normalcy with the efforts of the State and central governments”. He urged the petitioners not to fan any flame in the court which may have repercussions on the ground.
Senior advocate Colin Gonsalves, for petitioner Manipur Tribal Forum Delhi, said he was sceptical about the State’s version. He said the body count from the violence had been 10 at the time the petitioners moved the apex court in May, it was 110 now.
“Your scepticism cannot lead us to take over the governance of a State,” the Chief Justice chided him.
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“I urge Your Lordships to allow me to make my submissions calmly,” Mr. Gonsalves pleaded.
The hearing saw the Manipur government file its latest status report detailing the situation on the ground.
The Bench asked the petitioners and intervenors in the case to go through the report and file short notes with their suggestions on improvements by July 10 evening. The court listed the case again on July 11.
The State government has meanwhile filed an appeal against a Manipur High Court order to lift the ban on Internet Lease Line (ILL) connections in the State provided the stakeholders follow safeguards.
The court had further asked the government to consider restoring Fiber To The Home (FTTH) connections on a case-to-case basis.
The State said the order may be premature as the situation on the ground in Manipur was still fluid.
“The situation keeps changing,” Mr. Mehta explained. The court agreed to take up the petition on July 11. eom
