The Supreme Court appointed committee, looking into various aspects of the violence and it’s aftermath in Manipur has highlighted the recovery and reconstruction of documents lost in arson and gunfire as the first step, followed by just compensation rules and appointment of domain experts.
The committee comprises three retired women who were judges at high courts. It is headed by former Jammu and Kashmir high court Chief Justice Gita Mittal and also has Justices Shalini Phansalkar Joshi and Asha Menon. So far, this committee has submitted three reports to the Supreme Court.
LiveLaw has reported that a Supreme Court bench of CJI D.Y. Chandrachud, Justice J.B. Pardiwala, and Justice Manoj Misra has directed for the reports to be circulated to the counsels and asked them to respond to the proposed suggestions.
“The first of the three reports submitted by the committee highlights the loss of essential documentation of the residents of Manipur who have been dishoused,” CJI Chandrachud said after looking at the report, according to The Hindu.
Besides, the committee has suggested that a nodal officer be appointed to head the process of reconstructing these documents.
Interestingly, among documents lost are Aadhaar cards, which are tied to welfare scheme benefits and also bank accounts, the CJI observed.
The second report has highlighted that the compensation scheme for victims in Manipur needs to be improved and updated with the NALSA scheme in mind, reports LiveLaw. The Manipur compensation scheme keeps victims who have benefitted from other schemes out of the ambit of the scheme.
The third report, according to LiveLaw, proposed the appointment of domain experts for administrative directions. The bench noted also that certain procedural directions were required in the matter to pay for expenses including infrastructure. It asked advocate Vrinda Grover to collate relevant suggestions and share them with the Advocate General of Manipur later this week.
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