The Manipur High Court has directed the Manipur chief secretary to pay an amount of Rs 5 lakh each as monetary compensation to the next of kin of two deceased persons in a fake encounter case, as directed by the National Human Rights Commission on March 5, 2020.
The High Court directed for paying the compensation within a period of 12 weeks.
Suhas Chakma, director, National Campaign Against Torture on January 28, 2009, filed a complaint with the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) against the alleged extra-judicial killing of Ningthoujam Ananda Singh and Palungbam Kunabihari @ Bose @ Abung by a combined force of Manipur Police Commandos and the 16 Assam Rifles at Kanglatombi Makhan Road, Imphal.
The NHRC, after taking cognizance and upon hearing the parties, held that the deceased were killed by the combined force in an extra-judicial manner and their right to life was violated by the police.
After the issuance of show-cause notice under Section 18 of the Protection of Human Rights Act, 1993 and after calling for response from the chief secretary on February 5, 2020, the NHRC recommended payment of Rs 5 lakh each as monetary compensation to the next of kin of the two deceased namely, Ningthoujam Ananda Singh and Palungbam Kunabihari @ Bose @ Abung.
Despite the NHRC recommendation to pay monetary relief to the next of kin of the two deceased, the chief secretary failed to comply with the recommendation. The NHRC also failed to fulfil its statutory obligation to enforce its order.
The petitioner has approached the Delhi High Court for enforcement of the NHRC recommendation. However, the same was dismissed with liberty to approach the Manipur High Court. Therefore, the petitioners had filed the writ petition before the HC.
The HC, after hearing the petition, stated that the NHRC order has attained finality and is not a subject matter of challenge by the respondents.
"Therefore, the proposition in the directives of the Full Bench of the Madras High Court only leads to the conclusion that the respondents are bound to comply with the NHRC recommendation, so pay the amount within 12 weeks," the HC said.
