New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Wednesday extended until July 31 the tenure of a committee it had appointed to oversee humanitarian concerns, including issues relating to women and children, arising from the sectarian strife in Manipur.
The committee comprising three women judges — J&K High Court’s former Chief Justice Gita Mittal, Bombay High Court’s retired judge Shalini Phansalkar Joshi, and Delhi High Court’s former judge Asha Menon — was tasked with collecting information related to violence against women in Manipur as well as monitoring the conditions at relief camps and deciding on compensation to victims.
Apart from this, the Justice Mittal-led panel was also entrusted with the payment of compensation and restitution to victims of violence.
On Wednesday, a Bench of Chief Justice of India (CJI) Surya Kant and Justice Joymalya Bagchi allowed the extension after senior advocate Vibha Makhija, the amicus curiae in the matter, informed the apex court that the committee’s earlier tenure had expired in July 2025.
“Continuation of the Committee from July 2025 is regularised. The Committee is granted further time till 31st July 2026,” the CJI Kant-led Bench ordered.
The Supreme Court had empowered the Justice Mittal-led panel to issue directions to the state government to settle compensation for damages caused to the movable and immovable properties of persons affected by violence.
The committee was mandated to submit its updated status report on a fortnightly basis directly to the apex court.
A Bench, headed by then CJI D.Y. Chandrachud, had said that the objective of the constitution of such a committee was to restore the faith and confidence of the community in the justice system and, secondly, to ensure that the rule of law is restored.
Expressing its anguish over the manner in which women were subjected to grave acts of sexual violence during sectarian strife in Manipur, the apex court had said that “subjecting women to sexual crimes and violence is completely unacceptable and constitutes a grave violation of the constitutional values of dignity, personal liberty and autonomy, all of which are protected as core fundamental rights under Part III of the Constitution”.
(IANS)
