IMPHAL: The families of the victims in Manipur, who died due to alleged “extrajudicial killings” by security personnel between 2000 and 2012, have welcomed the decision of the Supreme Court on the matter.
The Extrajudicial Execution Victims’ Families Association Manipur (EEFVAM) and Human Right Alert (HRA) have welcomed the Supreme Court’s ruling, which asked the Manipur high court to decide the issue of grant of sanction to prosecute the security personnel involved in extrajudicial killings in Manipur.
Notably, the Supreme Court, on Thursday, had directed the Manipur high court to dispose of sanction issue pending before the high court, preferably within six months, in extrajudicial killing cases.
The Supreme Court had also allowed interim applications filed by the Union Government pertaining to officers of the Special Investigation Team (SIT) that was entrusted with the investigation of extrajudicial killings in the state pursuant to an order of the apex court in July 2017.
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“The Supreme Court ruling is welcomed. Prosecution sanction case was pending at the Manipur high court for almost one and half years. Therefore, this direction from the Supreme Court is a very welcome move,” said HRA executive director Babloo Loitongbam on Sunday.
A public interest litigation (PIL) was filed in the Supreme Court in 2012 by the EEFVAM and HRA that sought investigation into the 1528 cases of alleged “fake encounters” that were allegedly carried out in the guise of the armed forces special powers act (AFSPA).