NEW DELHI : The SC stated on Thursday that it was “simply unacceptable in a constitutional democracy” and that it was “very deeply disturbed” by the video showing two women being paraded in Manipur while completely naked.The federal government and the Manipur government were instructed to take action immediately by a bench chaired by Chief Justice D Y Chandrachud after taking notice of the video. It declared that using women as weapons to commit violent acts in tense situations is inexcusable and that the pictures revealed egregious constitutional and human rights violations.. The bench, which also included Justices P S Narasimha and Manoj Misra, declared, “We are very deeply disturbed by the videos which have emerged yesterday about the way those two women were paraded in Manipur.”The Chief Justice of India (CJI) said, “I think it is time that the government really steps in and takes action because this is simply unacceptable,” and added, “We will give the government a little time to act, otherwise we will take action if nothing is happening on the ground.” When there is intergroup conflict, using women as weapons of violence is “simply unacceptable” and “deeply disturbing,” according to Justice Chandrachud.The video, which appeared on Wednesday, was from May 4, he claimed, but it is irrelevant because the court is aware of that fact. He called it the “gravest possible constitutional and human rights violation.” As soon as the bench gathered to hear mention of the proceedings, the CJI declared that the supreme court had ordered Attorney General R Venkataramani and Solicitor General Tushar Mehta to appear in court. The CJI asked the two law enforcement officials, “What steps have been taken since May to bring the offenders to justice and second, what steps is the government taking to ensure that this is not repeated because who knows, it may have been isolated, it may not have been isolated, it may be a pattern.”In the past and now, he claimed, women have been used as weapons to commit violence in certain circumstances, but in a “constitutional democracy, this is unacceptable.” Mehta stated that such acts are “unacceptable” and that he shares the CJI’s profound concern. Mehta stated that the occurrence has caused the government considerable concern as well and that he will inform the court of the actions taken in this regard. The court’s judgement stated that the media images depicting sexual assault and other forms of violence against women in Manipur have “deeply disturbed” the bench. According to the statement, “We are of the opinion that the court must be informed of the steps which have been taken by the government to hold the perpetrators accountable and to ensure that such incidents are not repeated in the strife in Manipur.” The bench stated, “The visuals which have appeared in the media would indicate gross constitutional violation and infraction of human rights,” and continued, “We direct both the Union government and the state government to take immediate steps and to apprise the court of what action has been taken.”The matter will be heard by the bench on July 28. Tension rose in the hills of Manipur when a May 4 video surfaced on Wednesday showing two women from one of the warring factions being paraded naked by a few men from the opposing side. Just before the Indigenous Tribal Leaders’ Forum (ITLF) announced a planned protest march on Thursday to raise awareness of their plight, the video was going viral. Since May 3, when a ‘Tribal Solidarity March’ was organised in the hill areas to oppose the Meitei community’s demand for Scheduled Tribe (ST) status, there have been at least 150 homicides and hundreds of injuries related to ethnic violence in the state. The top court had previously stated that it was not a venue to be utilised for raising tensions in the state while hearing a number of petitions regarding the violence in Manipur and advised the warring ethnic groups to exhibit restraint during court hearings.
