- Thursday, February 27, 2025
The top court also refused to entertain a plea concerning similar alleged incidents in states such as West Bengal, Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh and Kerala that are governed by parties that are in opposition to PM Narendra Modi’s BJP.
By: Shubham Ghosh
THE Supreme Court of India on Monday (31) expressed deep concern over what it called an “unprecedented magnitude” of violence perpetrated against women in the north-eastern state of Manipur while addressing a series of pleas related to the ongoing ethnic violence there.
The top court also refused to entertain a plea concerning similar alleged incidents in states such as West Bengal, Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh and Kerala that are governed by parties that are opponents to prime minister Narendra Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) which is also in power in Manipur.
During the hearing, lawyer Bansuri Swaraj highlighted the need to consider violence against women in the eastern state West Bengal as well and requested that any mechanism devised should be applicable to all states.
She brought up similar other distressing incidents, including a video of a mob disrobing and parading a woman candidate of the recently held panchayat elections in the state naked. The incident happened in Bengal’s Howrah state.
Swaraj, daughter of India’s late external affairs minister Sushma Swaraj and currently co convener of Delhi BJP’s legal cell, lamented that no first-information report (FIR) had been registered for those crimes against women.
“The daughters of India need to be protected,” she said, adding, “After the horrific incident (of two women paraded naked) of May came to light in Manipur, identical incidents took place in Bengal and Chhattisgarh.”
“A video came to light in which a mob disrobed a panchayat poll candidate and paraded her nude in a village in the district of Howrah (in West Bengal). Another candidate was also paraded nude during the panchayat poll violence. No FIR has been registered,” the lawyer added.
The bench, led by Chief Justice D Y Chandrachud, acknowledged that crimes against women were widespread throughout the country but emphasised that the current case primarily concerned the atrocities in Manipur, which were of an exceptional scale due to the prevailing communal and sectarian strife in the region.
The bench, which comprises Justices J B Pardiwala and Manoj Mishra, added that it is hearing pleas related to Manipur and that the incidents of crime committed against women in Manipur cannot be equated with similar incidents in other parts of India.
“Crimes against women take place all over the country. This is part of our social reality. Presently, we are dealing with something which is of unprecedented magnitude and pertains mainly to the crimes and perpetration of violence against women. There is a situation of communal and sectarian strife … in Manipur. So what we say is that there is no gainsaying that there are crimes against women taking place in West Bengal as well,” it said.
Swaraj said, “In the case of West Bengal, it is equally grave because violence against women is ultimately used to punish the electorate. Indira Jaising says there are 5,995 FIRs in Manipur and 9,304 FIRs have been lodged in West Bengal, only 3 per cent (of the accused) are incarcerated and 97 per cent perpetrators are roaming free.”
The conscience of the civil society has all of a sudden woken up in the case of Manipur, she added.
“What happened in Manipur cannot be condoned. But bone-chilling facts are coming to light in West Bengal, Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh and Kerala after the incident (of two women paraded naked) took place in Manipur. Kindly set up the mechanism not for Manipur only,” the lawyer said.
While Bengal is ruled by the Trinamool Congress led by chief minister Mamata Banerjee, one of the major anti-Modi faces of Indian politics, Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh are ruled by the Indian National Congress and Kerala by the Left.
