The all-women committee headed by Justice (retd) Gita Mittal (former chief justice of Jammu & Kashmir High Court), which was constituted by the Supreme Court to look into the humanitarian aspects of the Manipur violence issue including relief, remedial measures, rehabilitation measures, and restoration of homes and places of worship, has submitted three reports to a bench comprising Chief Justice of India (CJI) DY Chandrachud, Justice JB Pardiwala, and Justice Manoj Misra.
The apex court’s bench has directed for the reports of the Justice Mittal Committee to be circulated to the counsels on Monday, August 21st, and asked them to respond to the proposed suggestions.
The Justice Mittal Committee also consists of Justice Shalini Phansalkar Joshi (former Bombay High Court judge) and Justice Asha Menon (former Delhi High Court Judge).
At the outset, the CJI informed the counsels today that three reports had been filed by the Justice Mittal Committee.
Following are details on the three reports –
- A report highlighting the loss of documents of citizens in the Manipur violence. This report calls for assistance in the reconstruction of important documents such as Aadhaar cards, etc, to such citizens;
- A report calling for the Manipur Victim Compensation Scheme (MVCS) to be improved and updated bearing in mind the NALSA scheme. For instance, the MVCS states that a victim is ineligible for the benefits under it if the victim benefits under other schemes.
- A report proposing the appointment of domain experts for administrative directions.
The Supreme Court had earlier this month constituted the all-woman judicial committee headed by Justice Mittal to examine the probe being conducted to ensure justice for victims of Manipur violence.
After going through the reports, the bench agreed, “The reports submitted by Justice Mittal led committee shows essential documents need to be reissued, the victim compensation scheme needs an upgrade and a nodal administration expert be appointed (sic).”
The apex court directed that the reports of the Justice Mittal Committee be shared with all advocates on record representing the petitioners.
The bench also acknowledged that certain procedural directions would be necessary to provide administrative support, allocate finances to the Justice Mittal Committee and publicise the committee’s work.
It entrusted advocate Vrinda Grover with the task of collating the required directions and sharing them with the Manipur Advocate General by 10pm on Thursday, August 24th. The matter will be heard next on August 25th.
