Pay Rs 10 lakh compensation to kin of all those killed in Manipur violence in 4 weeks: NHRC
Guwahati, Nov 17: The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) on Friday said it has asked Manipur government to pay Rs 10 lakh compensation each within four weeks to the next of kin of all the people who died in ethnic clashes since May.
After completing its two-day camp here to hear cases from the northeastern states, NHRC also ordered the Manipur government to complete the assessment of damaged houses and pay Rs 10 lakh compensation to each of the victims within six weeks.
The rights body instructed the state government to clear the blockade on National Highways 2 and 37 passing through Manipur.
"We have been told that the next of kin of 93 persons, who died in the violence, have been given a compensation of Rs 10 lakh. We were told that 180 people were killed till a particular date.
"We have asked them to complete the process to pay compensation to the next of kin of the remaining people within four weeks and report to us," NHRC chairperson Justice Arun Kumar Mishra said at a press conference here.
Regarding rebuilding of houses damaged during the violence, the commission directed the Manipur government to complete the assessment within six weeks for distributing the compensation as per the existing scheme, he added.
"The government is proposing a compensation of Rs 10 lakh for reconstruction of houses. They have been asked to complete this process so that reconstruction of houses begins soon," Justice Mishra said.
Noting that violence is still continuing in some parts of Manipur, the NHRC asked the state government to prepare a roadmap to restore the situation and clear the blockade on the National Highway 2 and 37 as soon as possible, he added.
Justice Mishra further said the commission also heard a case related to the death of 57 people, injuries to 18 persons and missing of four due to negligence of the Northeast Frontier Railway (NFR) while executing a project of construction of tunnels and railway tracks to connect Jiribam with Imphal.
"Poor condition of the district hospital in Churachandpur due to non-availability of basic facilities and complaints regarding incidences of violence in Manipur were also heard," he added.
Along with Justice Mishra, NHRC members Dr Dnyaneshwar Manohar Mulay and Rajiv Jain, secretary general Bharat Lal, registrar (Law) Surajit Dey and senior officers also attended the camp.
More than 180 people lost their lives and several hundreds were injured since ethnic clashes broke out in Manipur on May 3, after a 'Tribal Solidarity March' was organised in the hill districts to protest against the Meitei community's demand for Scheduled Tribe (ST) status.
Meiteis account for about 53 per cent of Manipur's population and live mostly in the Imphal Valley. Tribals -- Nagas and Kukis -- constitute little over 40 per cent and reside in the hill districts.
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36 ex-judges slam Opposition move to impeach Justice Swaminathan
New Delhi (PTI): Thirty-six former judges on Saturday gave a call to people, including parliamentarians, to denounce opposition leaders' move to impeach Madras High Court judge Justice G R Swaminathan, saying such an attempt, if allowed to proceed, would cut at the very roots of democracy and independence of the judiciary.
On December 1, Justice Swaminathan held that the Arulmighu Subramania Swamy Temple was duty-bound to light the lamp at the Deepathoon, in addition to the customary lighting near the Uchi Pillaiyar Mandapam.
The single-judge bench said that doing so would not encroach upon the rights of the adjacent dargah or the Muslim community.
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The order sparked a row, and on December 9, several opposition MPs, led by the DMK, submitted a notice to Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla to move a motion for the removal of the judge.
Taking serious exception to the move, the former judges in a joint statement said this is a "brazen attempt to browbeat judges who do not fall in line with the ideological and political expectations of a particular section of society".
"If such an attempt is permitted to proceed, it would cut at the very roots of our democracy and the independence of the judiciary," they said.
"We therefore call upon all stakeholders -- Members of Parliament across party lines, members of the Bar, civil society, and citizens at large -- to unequivocally denounce this move and ensure that it is nipped in the bud at the very inception," they added.
The statement emphasised that the judges must remain answerable to their oath and to the Constitution of India, not to "partisan political pressures or ideological intimidation".
"The message from all constitutional stakeholders must be clear and firm: in a republic governed by the rule of law, judgments are tested by appeals and legal critique, and not by threats of impeachment for political nonconformity," it said.
The statement was signed by former Supreme Court judge Krishn Murari J as well as ex-chief justices and former judges of different high courts.
The statement said the opposition party's move is not an "isolated aberration". It fits into a "clear and deeply troubling pattern" in India's recent constitutional history, where sections of the political class have sought to discredit and intimidate the higher judiciary whenever outcomes do not align with their interests, it added.
"The unprecedented bid in 2018 to initiate impeachment proceedings against then Chief Justice of India Dipak Misra, the sustained campaigns of vilification directed at Chief Justices Ranjan Gogoi, S A Bobde and D Y Chandrachud while they were in office," the statement noted.
"The targeted attacks now being mounted against the incumbent CJI, Justice Surya Kant, whenever a judgment/remark displeases a political constituency, are all manifestations of the same trend," it said.
"This is not principled, reasoned criticism of judicial decisions; it is an attempt to weaponise impeachment and public calumny as instruments of pressure -- a practice that strikes at the heart of judicial independence and the basic norms of constitutional democracy," the statement added.
