The Supreme Court on Wednesday asked the Manipur government and the law enforcement agencies to file a status report on the recovery of arms made from all sources in the ethnic-violence hit state.
A bench comprising Chief Justice DY Chandrachud and Justices JB Pardiwala and Manoj Misra also took note of the affidavit of the Manipur chief secretary that there was no short supply of basic commodities like food and medicines for people facing economic blockade.
The top state officer said there was no outbreak of chicken pox and measles in relief camps as alleged by lawyers representing petitioners. The chief secretary of Manipur has filed an affidavit dealing with availability of rations and essential commodities, including in Moreh, and the alleged outbreak of measles and chickenpox in Moreh.
The chief secretary has furnished steps taken to distribute rations in nine camps. If any further grievance subsists in regard to specific instances, this should be brought to notice of district administration.
Any such grievance should be dealt with expeditiously, the bench said. On the issue of recovery of arms, it said, let a status report be furnished to this court by the government.
The report shall be made available only to this court. Issuing a slew of fresh directions, the bench directed the Union home secretary to communicate with Justice (retd) Gita Mittal, the chairperson of the apex court-appointed three member panel to oversee relief and rehabilitation work in Manipur, for finalising names of the experts for helping the committee in its functioning.
It also directed the state government to nominate an officer with whom the committee can interact for carrying out its work. It also directed the Manipur government to file a status report giving details about the steps taken to upgrade the state victims compensation scheme to bring it at par with the NALSA (National Legal Services Authority) scheme.