Manipur Violence: Senior Advocate Meenakshi Arora objects to State government 'attacking' her in affidavit before Supreme Court

The lawyer appearing for the all-woman judges committee appointed by the Supreme Court to oversee the Manipur violence case, Senior Advocate Meenakshi Arora, on Wednesday took strong objection to being 'attacked' by the State of Manipur in its affidavit filed before the top court..In its affidavit, the State said that Arora had, in a hearing last week, submitted that residents in some parts of Manipur did not have access to basic rations, and that there was an outbreak of Measles and Chickenpox. Such submissions have created panic in the State, the affidavit added.Such claims should have been confirmed with the State before being made in Court, the affidavit further said."It is submitted that the said claims seem to have been made without any factual verification and without any consultation with the relevant government authorities which have created panic, It is submitted that petitioners/ applicants were confining their argument only to Mereh, however, the State of Manipur is handling and taking care of the entire State.".Today, appearing before a Bench of Chief Justice of India (CJI) DY Chandrachud and Justices JB Pardiwala and Manoj Misra, raised objection to the statement in the affidavit, saying,"The entire affidavit is nothing but just an attack on me. Seeing the entire situation, I am recusing myself.".Appearing for the State government, Solicitor General Tushar Mehta argued that though Arora had submitted that there were multiple cases of Chickenpox in rehabilitation camps, it was found that there was only one such case in the State as of now. He maintained that panic was created as a result of Arora's statement..However, CJI Chandrachud, while dictating the order for the day, clarified that no such remarks against any submission made by counsel would be attributable to them personally."Any reference made to counsel in affidavit shall not be construed as any comment on the counsel. We make it clear that counsel appearing before the court do so as officers of the court and are responsible to this court," the order stated..The Bench was hearing a batch of pleas related to the recent outbreak of violence in Manipur.The Central government had ordered a probe by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) into the viral video of women being paraded naked, after the Court had taken it up suo motu.During the hearing of the matter on August 1, the Court had castigated the authorities and the State Police over their apparent failure to control the law and order situation that unfolded in Manipur. It thus formed a committee of retired woman judges to ensure justice for victims of the violence in the State.The all-woman committee formed had suggested that the compensation to be paid to victims of violence should be enhanced.