Supreme Court takes suo moto cognizance, seeks report from Centre and state

NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Thursday took suo moto cognizance of the disturbing viral videos of two young tribal women paraded naked by a mob in Manipur and sought an action taken report from the Centre and state governments by July 28.

A bench headed by Chief Justice of India D.Y. Chandrachud and comprising Justices P.S. Narasimha and Manoj Misra told the Solicitor General of India that the apex court will be constrained to "step in" if the government does not take action.

"We will give a little time to the government to act; otherwise, we will take action," the bench said.

The apex court asked the centre and the state government to apprise it of the steps taken by July 28.

The court said that it is "deeply disturbed" by the incident, which it termed a "gross constitutional violation".

Videos of the incident that occurred on May 4, a day after ethnic violence broke out in Manipur, went viral on Wednesday.

According to the Indigenous Tribal Leaders' Forum (ITLF), the mob gang raped the two women in a paddy field after making them parade naked.

Earlier in the day, Prime Minister Narendra Modi condemned the incident and termed it shameful for the 140 crore people of the country.

Talking to media persons ahead of the Monsoon Session of Parliament, he said: "Today, my heart is filled with pain and anger. The incident in Manipur that has surfaced is, for any civilised society, a very shameful incident.

"This incident is an insult for the entire nation as it has shamed 140 crore countrymen. The incident that happened with the women in Manipur can never be forgiven. I assure the countrymen that no one will be spared." (IANS)

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