The Supreme Court was on Tuesday told that lawyers were not willing to appear for members of a certain community in violence-hit Manipur because of threats from another community. Ordering protection from arrest to the two petitioners, the top court said it was a “serious matter” if lawyers were not able to appear before the Manipur high court.
Senior advocate Anand Grover appearing for both the petitioners reportedly told the Supreme Court bench headed by Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud that the lawyers who were to appear in one of the petitions before the Manipur high court had expressed to him his inability to appear before the court.
According to a LiveLaw report, Grover cited the instance of lawyers withdrawing from the Professor Kham Khan Suan Hausing case in the Manipur High Court after the house and office of one of them was vandalised. Subsequently, the petitioner was unable to find legal representation in the state, he said.
Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, appearing for Manipur government discounted the claim saying it is not necessarily the lawyers representing certain parties who are attacked. “Whenever any riot takes place, some lawyer, some doctor, some engineer - it happens...” he said, as quoted by LiveLaw. Grover reaffirmed his stand, taking a dig at Mehta saying he doesn’t know the facts.
“I don't think my learned friend knows the facts… three of them were appearing. He rang me up and said that I cannot appear in the matter because of issues. They are from Imphal. They belong to a community. They withdraw their appearance before the court. Their houses and offices were ransacked. One of them had to flee. The other one has taken refuge in the CRPF camp,” Grover told the court.
The CJI bench, also comprising justices JB Pardiwala and Manoj Misra, asked Grover to file an affidavit affirming these facts by September 22, which is when it will take up the matter next.
“Our conscience has to be first satisfied and people have to be represented in Court. Once we have the response from the state, we will pass instructions to the registrar-general of the Manipur High Court,” the top court said, adding that “no coercive steps shall be taken against the petitioner” till the next date of hearing.
The ethnic violence in Manipur between the dominant Meitei community and the Kuki-Zo hill tribes has entered the fifth month with no resolution in sight. More than 160 people have died in the clashes, as per records, and thousands have been displaced.
