Supreme Court Asks Committee Led By Ex-Judge Gita Mittal To Examine Issues Of Deficiency In Manipur Relief Camps

The Supreme Court has asked the committee led by the former Chief Justice Gita Mittal to examine the issue of deficiencies in the relief camps in Manipur and to submit a report within two months.

A PIL was filed by one Anthony Naulak after the Manipur High Court had refused to grant relief in a PIL concerning Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) in relief camps in Churachandpur, Manipur.

The Bench of Chief Justice Surya Kant, Justice Dipankar Datta and Justice Joymalya Bagchi ordered, "The High Court has already declined to go into the merits of the matter as this Court is already seized of the matter and a 3-member committee has been constituted by this Court to look into the various aspects of these matters...The petitioner claims he has listed multiple relief camps...highlighting acute efficiencies in food, medical facilities etc...On instructions, Learned ASG submitted that the representation has been forwarded to the 3-member committee...We dispose off the present petition with a request to the 3-member committee to examine the complaints made by the Petitioner herein and submit a report as early as possible, preferably within two months."

ASG Aishwarya Singh Bhati appeared for the Respondents.

Counsel for the Petitioner submitted, "This case is regarding the living conditions in relief camps in Manipur. We have approached the High Court seeking basic amenities." He further informed the Court that the Petitioner had sent a representation to the authorities and that they would forward it to the Committee, but nothing has been done since October, 2025. It was submitted that the Petitioner had sent a representation to the District Commissioner Churachandpur, which enumerated certain concerns at the relief camp site, including financial assistance.

"Reports of the Committee are also not available with us," he added.

Per contra, ASG Bhati submitted that the report has already been forwarded to the Committee.

The High Court had said, "Be that as it may, in the aforesaid scenario, learned Advocate General very fairly submitted that this being a human problem, writ petitioner’s said representation (representation dated 28.07.2025) will be forwarded by the State to the Hon’ble Committee (along with all relevant papers) for consideration and in addition to all the efforts and assistance which have been put in place if any further effort qua implementation or otherwise is required, the State will bestow its best attention on the same. This fair submission of the learned Advocate General is recorded."

It further added, "There is another reason as to why this Court has taken this course in instant PIL. This another reason is, Hon’ble Supreme Court is seized of the matter as already alluded to supra in this order. This means that if the PIL petitioner has any grievances to be ventilated, it may only be appropriate to approach Hon’ble Supreme Court by way of an application in Gangmei’s case if so advised and so desired. This, in the considered view of this court is a matter of judicial discipline in the hierarchy of courts."

Accordingly, the matter was disposed of.

Background

The Committee, consisting of the following three members, was constituted by the Apex Court on August 7, 2023: (i) Justice Gita Mittal, former Chief Justice of the High Court of Jammu and Kashmir; (ii) Justice Shalini Phansalkar Joshi, former Judge of the High Court of Judicature at Bombay; and (iii) Justice Asha Menon, former Judge of the High Court of Delhi.

The Supreme Court had said that after hearing, it will pass an order constituting a Committee of three former High Court judges to look at things apart from the investigation, like relief, remedial measures, compensation, restoration of religious places and other aspects of humanitarian nature. On investigation, the Court said it will not supplant CBI which will inquire into rape cases, but that it will direct that there shall be five officers of at least the DYSP rank who are brought into CBI from various states, who are conversant with Hindi language, on deputation to oversee the investigation into FIRs which are transferred to CBI.

On July 20, 2023, the Chief Justice-led Bench had taken suo motu cognizance of the incident of the two women being paraded naked and sexually assaulted, captured in a viral video shared across media platforms. The Court had remarked that "It is time that the Government really steps in and takes action because this is simply unacceptable" and had directed both the Union Government and the State Government to take immediate steps and to apprise the Court of what action has been taken. The Centre then filed an affidavit stating that the investigation be transferred to the CBI and that the trial of the case be transferred out of Manipur, to be completed within a time frame. It was thereafter that the two women approached the Supreme Court filing independent proceeding.

Similarly, on the issue of ethnic violence prevalent in the State of Manipur, the Court had on July 11, considered the suggestions made by different parties to remedy the issues faced in the state and had directed that an action taken report be filed by the State within a week. The Court said that "It will review the action taken, after two weeks and is only highlighting some suggestions, but the Government can take action on all issues."

The Court is seized of a batch of pleas on the Manipur situation, including one by a ruling BJP MLA challenging the high court order on Scheduled Tribe status to the Meitei community, and a PIL by the tribal NGO for an SIT probe into the violence that has rocked the northeastern state.

Cause Title: Anthony Naulak v. District Commissioner Churachandpur and ors. [Diary No. 211 of 2026]