NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Monday came down heavily on the Manipur government as well as the police over the “complete break down of constitutional machinery” in the strife-torn state from May till July. It also summoned the Manipur DGP to explain why “tardy probe” was carried out by the state police in cases of violence.

“The state police appears to be incapable of investigating the cases. There is no law and order left (in the state). If law and order machinery cannot protect people, where will they go for protection,”a bench headed by CJI D Y Chandrachud said.
The bench, also comprising Justice J B Pardiwala and Justice Manoj Misra, was hearing a batch of petitions concerning the violence in Manipur.

The apex court criticised the Manipur police for the poor law and order situation in the state, saying it is “incapable of investigation”.
During the hearing, the court also summoned Manipur DGP Rajiv Singh and sought his personal presence on Monday to understand why “tardy” probe was carried out in cases of “heinous nature”.
It asked the DGP to submit a tabulated data of FIRs based on the nature of offences. “We will decide future course of action on that day,” the top court said.
Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, appearing for the Centre, told the top court that 11 FIRs were filed for sexual assault against women during the strife in Manipur and all 11 FIRs can be entrusted to the CBI for probe.
On Monday, the top court had pulled up the Manipur police over the delay in filing of the FIR in the horrific video incident on May 4 of two tribal women being paraded naked in the strife-torn state.
The bench had termed the violence against women in the state as “horrendous” and said that it does not want the Manipur police to probe the May 4 incident.
“The women shown in Manipur video were handed over to rioting crowd by police, this is horrendous,” the court said, as it sought details of the FIRs and the number of arrests made in the incidents of violence against women in the state.
Earlier, the Supreme Court asked the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) to put on hold the recording of the statement of the tribal women victims in the Manipur viral video case till it hears the main case.
The top court had also indicated setting up a panel to record the statements of the survivors of the May 4 incident and a Special Investigation Team to probe the case. It had then posted the matter for further hearing on Tuesday.
The women victims also filed a plea in the top court yesterday against the CBI probe into their case and sought security for them. They also prayed for a direction to record their statement under Section 164 of CrPC by the nearest area magistrate. They had sought a probe into their case by the Special Investigation Team (SIT) under the monitoring of the top court.