The Supreme Court of India, in an extraordinary exercise of its powers under Article 32 of the Constitution, took suo motu cognisance of the ethnic violence in Manipur following the emergence of a viral video showing two women being paraded naked and sexually assaulted. A Bench led by Chief Justice D.Y. Chandrachud declared the situation simply unacceptable and directed the transfer of sensitive cases to the Central Bureau of Investigation, while constituting a monitoring mechanism for relief and rehabilitation.
Background
Ethnic violence erupted in Manipur in May 2023, triggered by tensions between the Meitei and Kuki-Zo communities. The violence resulted in widespread displacement, destruction of property, and numerous incidents of sexual violence. While the Supreme Court had been monitoring the situation through various petitions, the release of a disturbing video in July 2023 — showing two women being stripped, paraded, and assaulted — prompted the Court to take direct suo motu action.
On 20 July 2023, the Chief Justice-led Bench remarked during proceedings that the State machinery had failed in its primary duty to protect citizens, particularly women. The Court observed that the police investigation in the viral video case had been tardy and expressed anguish at the scale of gender-based violence reported from the state. The Central Government filed an affidavit supporting the transfer of investigation to the CBI and the transfer of trial outside Manipur.
Key Holdings
The Supreme Court issued a series of orders in July-August 2023 addressing multiple dimensions of the crisis:
CBI investigation ordered: The Court directed the transfer of the most serious cases, including those involving sexual violence, to the CBI. A former Director General of Police of Maharashtra was appointed to supervise the investigation by both the CBI and the Special Investigation Teams (SITs) to ensure independent and impartial inquiry.
SIT reconstitution: The Court ordered the inclusion of officers from states other than Manipur in the SITs to address concerns about local police complicity. Officers from neighbouring states were inducted to ensure that investigations were not compromised by partisan considerations.
Justice Gita Mittal Committee: On 7 August 2023, the Court constituted a three-member committee comprising Justice Gita Mittal (former Chief Justice of J&K High Court), Justice Shalini Phansalkar Joshi (former Bombay HC judge), and Justice Asha Menon (former Delhi HC judge) to examine humanitarian concerns, monitor relief camps, and oversee rehabilitation of displaced persons.
Property destruction disclosure: The Court directed the Manipur government to disclose complete details of properties destroyed or encroached upon during the violence, creating a factual record for future accountability proceedings.
Trial transfer: For cases where investigation was complete, the Court directed transfer of trial outside Manipur to ensure fair proceedings free from local pressures.
Implications for Practitioners
This case represents one of the most expansive exercises of the Supreme Court's suo motu jurisdiction in recent years. For constitutional law practitioners, it offers a template for judicial intervention in situations of systemic State failure to protect fundamental rights.
The appointment of a supervisory officer over CBI investigations and the reconstitution of SITs with out-of-state officers establish important procedural precedents for cases where local law enforcement neutrality is compromised. Defence practitioners representing victims can draw on these structural safeguards when arguing for independent investigation in other contexts of community violence.
The Justice Gita Mittal Committee's mandate — spanning humanitarian relief, victim rehabilitation, and systemic accountability — represents a quasi-administrative judicial intervention that goes beyond traditional adjudicatory functions. Practitioners working on displacement and rehabilitation matters should monitor the Committee's reports for evolving standards on State obligations during internal conflict.