Supreme Court appoints former Maharashtra DGP Patsalgikar to lead Manipur violence investigation

New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Monday has charged former Maharashtra DGP Dattatreya Patsalgikar with overseeing the probe into the Manipur violence. In addition to the CBI, Patsalgikar will monitor the functioning of the state government's 42 SITs and report to the Supreme Court. A bench led by Chief Justice DY Chandrachud also asked for the inclusion of police officers from outside Manipur in the investigation. According to the court, each SITs would have an officer from a different state.

The Supreme Court has also constituted a committee of three former High Court judges, all of whom are women, to oversee relief and rebuilding efforts in the state. This committee will be chaired by Geeta Mittal, former Chief Justice of the Jammu & Kashmir High Court. This committee will shortly be visiting the state. The court has ordered the state government to provide them with adequate security.

Attorney General R.K. Venkataramani stated at the outset of the hearing that six Special Investigation Teams (SITs) will be formed in each area affected by violence. As a result, the state government recommends forming 42 Special Investigation Teams (SIT) to investigate various types of crimes.An officer with the rank of SP or Deputy SP will command each unit. A female officer will lead the SIT in investigating crimes against women. He claimed that each SIT will submit a report to DIG-level officers, and the DGP will monitor the investigation every 15 days.

Solicitor General Tushar Mehta informed the justices that the CBI would investigate the 11 cases that had previously been given over to them, including the case of two women who were captured naked. In this regard, the Chief Justice noted that restoring public trust is vital. As a result, officers from other states will be involved in the investigation as well.Five officers with the rank of Deputy SP or SP should also be included in the CBI team. These officers should be from other states' police but be able to speak Hindi with locals.

The Chief Justice, along with Justices PS Narasimha and Manoj Kumar Mishra on a three-judge panel, urged the State Government's SIT to include outside officers as well. "The state government has discussed the formation of 42 SITs," he explained. We feel that every SITs should include at least one Inspector from another state's police department. Furthermore, 6 DIG rank officials from surrounding states should monitor the operation of the 42 SITs."