SC pulls up CBI chief in Manipur encounter case

The Supreme Court on Monday pulled up CBI Director Alok Kumar Verma for waiting to record statements of witnesses to complete its investigations in fake encounters in Manipur, allegedly involving the Army, Assam Rifles and state police personnel.

“See, Mr Director, we are dealing with the lives of people. What are you waiting for? We selected those cases for investigation by the CBI as there were already materials in the reports prepared by Justice Santosh Hegde Commission, NHRC and judicial commissions,” a bench of Justices Madan B Lokur and U U Lalit said.

The bench quizzed Verma over the delay in finishing the investigation as directed earlier by the apex court, in a PIL for a probe into as many as 1,528 cases of alleged extra-judicial killings in Manipur.

“We are equally concerned about the death of human lives, the statement of witnesses have to be recorded. We would adhere to the timeline. The court has put a lot of faith on us,” Verma said.

He said two charge sheets have been filed in cases and five more final reports will be filed in separate cases by August 31. He said by March 31, 2019, the investigations into 41 cases would be completed.

Amicus Curiae, Menaka Guruswamy contended there was nothing in the CBI manuals which would warrant that those cases have to pass through seven layers of vetting.

The CBI chief said 14 persons have so far been charge sheeted for various offences including murder and destruction of evidence. The court put the matter for further consideration on August 20, leaving it with the investigation agency to decide if those charge sheeted should be arrested or not.