Supreme Court Seeks Status Report From Manipur Government On State's Situation By 7 July

On Monday (3 July), the Supreme Court requested the Manipur government to provide a status report on the situation in the state by Friday (7 July).

A bench led by Chief Justice of India D Y Chandrachud heard petitions regarding the Manipur violence. These included a plea challenging an order by the Manipur High Court on the inclusion of Meiteis in the Scheduled Tribes (ST) list and a plea by the Manipur Tribal Forum seeking protection for Kukis.

The bench instructed that the state's report should contain details such as "rehabilitation camps, law and order, recovery of arms etc."

In court, Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, representing the Centre and the Manipur government, stated, "The situation is improving, though slowly."

He informed the court that civil police, Indian reserve battalions, and 114 companies of the Central Armed Police Forces (CAPFs) have been deployed in the areas of violence in Manipur.

The status report will be ready by Friday, as stated by Mehta.

He also mentioned that there has been an improvement in the situation and the curfew time has been reduced to five hours. Live Law reported that the apex court has scheduled the next hearing for 10 July.

During the hearing, the petitioners' counsel, senior advocate Colin Gonsalves, appealed for the Solicitor General to "have a headcount of militants" and requested the Union of India to address the issue of assault weapons.

Mehta responded by stating that militants cannot be numbered, therefore a headcount is not possible.

Gonsalves highlighted the presence of two militant organisations that openly advocate violence against the Kukis. He pointed out that no action has been taken against them, and appealed for the disbandment of these armed groups to prevent the situation from escalating.

Three tribals were allegedly killed and one beheaded on Sunday night (2 July), marking the first case of the beheading of tribals amid Manipur violence, according to Gonsalves.

He added that the Kukis are defending, not attacking, and that the Meitis are crossing the lines. The army has stated that they are not being allowed to do their job, he added.