The Supreme Court on Friday said the army and paramilitary forces cannot use “excessive and retaliatory force” in Manipur and such instances must be probed. A bench of Justices MB Lokur and RK Agarwal also asked the amicus curiae to furnish details of alleged fake encounters in Manipur.
The bench said it was open to the Army to conduct its own inquiries into the allegations of fake encounters in Manipur. The court said it will also examine the claim of NHRC that it was a “toothless tiger” and needed more powers.
Supreme Court held that the trial court had the right to probe encounters even if the state was under AFSPA.
The apex court was hearing a petition by one Suresh Singh seeking repeal of the Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA) that grants special powers to the Indian Armed Forces in “disturbed areas”.
Earlier, the court had said the fact that compensation has been paid to the next of kin of victims of encounter killings by security forces in Manipur “amply indicate” that such encounters were fake.
It had asked Manipur government to apprise the court of the steps taken after compensations were paid to the kith and kin of the deceased.
The court had then also asked the Centre, Manipur government and NHRC to submit a comprehensive report on alleged fake encounter cases in the state, including 62 such cases where FIRs have not even been lodged.
