'Unnecessary': SC sets aside Manipur HC order asking CBI to find absconding rape convict
New Delhi (PTI): The Supreme Court on Thursday set aside an order of the Manipur High Court directing the CBI to locate and produce a rape convict on the run.
A bench of Justices B V Nagarathna and N Kotiswar Singh relieved the agency of the task saying the order passed by the high court was unnecessary.
"We find that request made by the CBI is genuine, particularly when the state has constituted a special team in order to trace the convict. Therefore, we find that directions issued by high court to CBI was unnecessary. Therefore, the directions are set aside. However, it is necessary to observe that state will make all endeavours to trace the convict," the bench said.
If in that regard, a request was made by the Manipur government to the Home Ministry, the Centre may ensure all assistance as required, the bench added.
Challenging the October 4, 2023 order of the high court, the CBI contended before the top court that the Manipur police was already looking into the matter and any interference would be duplication of efforts.
The CBI submitted before the high court that the direction would be difficult to be comply with, but said its submission wasn't accepted.
On January 10, the high court reiterated its direction to the CBI to locate the absconding convict within eight weeks.
Special judge POCSO Imphal West Maibam Manojkumar convicted Timothy L Changsang, administrator of North Eastern Children Home, Rengkai village Churachandpur, under Sections 6 and 10 of POCSO Act and under Section 506 of the IPC on April 30, 2019, and issued a non-bailable warrant to arrest him.
Timothy was charged with raping 14 minor girls for over two years since 2012, at a children home he ran. The incident came to light in February, 2015, after a minor girl inmate, lodged a complaint with the police.
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Family of injured driver in murder of Suvendu's aide seeks exemplary punishment
Kolkata (PTI): The family of Buddhabeb Bera, the driver injured in the shooting that killed BJP leader Suvendu Adhikari's close aide Chandranath Rath, demanded exemplary punishment for those responsible and urged the new government to ensure such incidents do not happen in West Bengal.
Rath was shot dead in Madhyamgram near Kolkata on Wednesday night, triggering a political storm in the state. Bera, who was driving the vehicle at the time of the attack, sustained gunshot wounds and is currently undergoing treatment at a private hospital.
Family members said they learned about the incident through television and immediately left for Kolkata.
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"We came to know from TV reports that my nephew had been shot. We still do not know who carried out the attack or why it happened," Buddhabeb's uncle Biswajit Bera said.
"Our only wish now is that he recovers and returns home safely," he added.
Buddhabeb, 25, hails from Majnaberia village in the Chandipur police station area in Purba Medinipur district.
According to family members, he mostly stays in Kolkata for work and visits home occasionally during weekends.
Besides his parents, his younger brother, sister-in-law and several relatives have also travelled to Kolkata following the incident.
Demanding strict action against the perpetrators, the uncle said, "We want the government to conduct a proper investigation and identify those directly involved in the crime. They should be given exemplary punishment so that such incidents do not happen again in West Bengal and no other family has to go through this grief."
A neighbour, Ranjana Ghorai, also sought stringent punishment for those behind the attack.
"In our neighbourhood, we call him Sona. We want exemplary punishment for the people responsible for this incident," she said.
Rath's family members have demanded life imprisonment for the accused, while Adhikari has called for capital punishment for those involved in the killing.
