Manipur violence: SC sets up panel of 3 former women HC judges to look into relief, rehabilitation
New Delhi, Aug 7: As Manipur sank deeper in ethnic violence, the Supreme Court on Monday announced setting up of a committee of three former women high court judges to look into relief and rehabilitation of those affected.
A bench headed by Chief Justice D Y Chandrachud said the committee will be headed by former Jammu and Kashmir High Court Chief Justice Gita Mittal and include Justices (retd) Shalini P Joshi and Asha Menon.
The bench, also comprising Justices J B Pardiwala and Manoj Misra, said the effort of the apex court is to restore a sense of confidence and faith in the rule of law in the state.
It said besides the judicial panel that will oversee relief and rehabilitation efforts among other things, senior police officers will be asked to supervise the investigation in criminal cases to be probed by the state SITs.
The bench said a detailed order will be uploaded on the apex court website later in the evening.
During the hearing, Manipur DGP Rajiv Singh appeared before the bench to answer queries on the ethnic violence and the steps taken by the administration so far to check it, besides the segregation of cases for the purpose of effective investigation.
Attorney General R Venkataramani and Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, appearing for the Centre and the state government, submitted a report, which the apex court had sought on August 1, on issues including the segregation of cases.
"The government is handling the situation at a very mature level," the attorney general told the bench.
The government law officers said the state government proposed to set up Special Investigation Teams (SITs), headed by the superintendent of police at the district level, to probe sensitive cases. The CBI has been asked to investigate 11 cases.
On August 1, the top court had said there was a complete breakdown of law and order and constitutional machinery in Manipur.
It had rapped the state police for a "tardy" and "lethargic" probe of incidents of ethnic violence, especially those targeting women, had summoned the DGP to answer its queries on August 7.
The Centre had urged the bench that instead of the two FIRs related to a video showing women being paraded naked by a mob, 11 out of 6,523 FIRs linked to violence against women and children may be transferred to the CBI and tried out of Manipur.
The bench is hearing around 10 petitions related to the spiralling violence, including those seeking court-monitored probe into cases, besides measures for relief and rehabilitation.
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NEET student hangs self in Rajasthan's Sikar
Jaipur (PTI): A student preparing for the NEET examination allegedly committed suicide by hanging himself in a rented room in Rajasthan's Sikar on Friday, police said.
According to the police, the student allegedly hanged himself from a ceiling fan using his sister's scarf while one sister was attending coaching classes and the other was in the bathroom.
He had appeared in the NEET UG exam 2026, which was cancelled due to paper leak, they said.
Udyog Nagar SHO Rajesh Kumar said that the deceased, identified as Pradeep Meghwal, was a resident of Kanika ki Dhani village in Jhunjhunu's Gudha Gaudji area.
He had been living in a rented room in Sikar's Jaldhari Nagar area with his two sisters while preparing for NEET over the last three years.
His elder sister later found him hanging and informed the landlord and police after bringing him down, officials said.
The SHO said the body was kept at SK Hospital mortuary, and a postmortem had not been conducted.
The student's father, Rajesh Kumar Meghwal, told police that Pradeep's NEET examination had gone well and the family was expecting him to score around 650 marks.
Former Rajasthan deputy chief minister Sachin Pilot expressed grief over the incident and linked it to anxiety among students after reports of irregularities and paper leaks in NEET 2026.
Pilot said repeated paper leak incidents and cancellation of examinations were affecting students' mental health and demanded a time-bound investigation and strict action against those responsible.
