A bench headed Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud agreed to list the matter for hearing on July 28 after senior advocate Anand Grover mentioned it for early hearing.
At Thamnapokpi under Moirang constituency in Bishnupur district, armed men fired several rounds in the air near a polling booth prompting voters to flee, police said on Friday, adding additional security personnel were rushed to the spot to contain the situation.
The two women are alleged to have been sexually assaulted before being set free by a mob. A 26-second video of the incident had surfaced on July 19.
The Centre is working on a three-pronged approach to bring the warring Meitei and Kuki communities into a narrow common ground for lasting peace in trouble-torn Manipur, sources said on Wednesday.
The union home minister is reportedly concerned over the shifting of violence and civil unrest from peripheral areas to districts in the Imphal valley.
State information and public relations minister Dr RK Ranjan said combing operations have been launched in all districts, particularly in vulnerable areas.
Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu shelled out Rs 60,000 from his own pocket for the evacuation of five local students stuck in violence-hit Manipur, an official spokesperson of the government said on Monday.
'I don't know whether on voting day there will be intimidation from some militant groups to vote for a particular person and then force them from voting for another in the stronghold of the candidate which does not favour them, or, force them not to come out for voting.' 'Anything is possible.'
The two women are alleged to have been sexually assaulted before being set free by a mob. A 26-second video of the incident had surfaced on July 19.
'As soon as the violence broke out, they should have stepped in and sent a message that the state is there to stop this violence.' 'Had they done it right there, the situation would not have gone out of control.'
In a bid to restrain the circulation of videos and images depicting violence and damage to properties in the state, the Manipur government in an order said such dissemination will be dealt with severely and booked as per law.
A young girl from Manipur hopes the happy days of togetherness will return to her beloved state again.
Thousands of agitators took part in the rally, during which violence between tribals and non-tribals was reported in Torbung area, a senior police officer said.
Suddenly, a mob gathered near the locality, pelting stones and shouting slogans asking residents to leave. Manipur had been tense throughout the day with demonstrations and protests in Churachandpur and Imphal, some of which had turned violent.
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Saturday launched a stinging attack on Prime Minister Narendra Modi accusing him of not addressing the problem of Manipur even during the debate on the violence in the northeastern state in Parliament a few days ago.
'Deeply hurt by Modi's conspicuous silence for over a month-and-a-half since the outbreak of violence, people in Manipur came on the roads and crushed their radio sets to express their frustration and anger.' 'The fact that Modi's Mann Ki Baat did not have a single reference to the Manipur violence further accentuated this hurt and anger.'
Government spokesperson and Information and Public Relations Minister Sapam Rajan said that the government is making efforts towards this end.
The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) on Friday said it has asked Manipur government to pay Rs 10 lakh compensation each within four weeks to the next of kin of all the people who died in ethnic clashes since May.
As thousands of Meiteis and Kukis are in relief camps in violence-torn Manipur, a group of doctors that visited the state has expressed concerns about the issue of nutrition and mental health situation of the inmates.
The committee's convenor L Binod had earlier said that the strike is not to add to the hardships of the people, but to 'pressure the government.'
A large number of arms and ammunition of the police have allegedly been looted by the rioters during the violence.
Manipur Chief Minister N Biren Singh on Monday said that a police case has been filed on the basis of a complaint against the president and three members of the Editors Guild of India (EGI) for a report critiquing media coverage out of Manipur, and accused them of trying to "provoke clashes" in the state.
The Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act or AFSPA was extended by another six months in Manipur on Wednesday barring 19 police stations falling under the Imphal valley and an area that shares its boundary with neighbouring Assam.
Rumour-mongering has largely affected the process to calm down the situation and bring peace in troubled Manipur.
'Hatred increases with every killing.' 'It sets one family against another.' 'The sooner it is stopped, the better.'
Violent protests over the death of two youths in Manipur continued till the early hours of Thursday with a mob vandalising the deputy commissioner's office in Imphal West and torching two four-wheelers, officials said.
Hours before a planned mass burial of Kuki-Zomi people killed in Manipur's ethnic violence, the state's high court on Thursday ordered that status quo be maintained at the proposed burial site in Churachandpur district, while ITLF, an apex tribal body also said it was postponing burial service plans following requests from the Union home minister.
Asking Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, appearing for the state government, to file an updated status report, the bench said, "It should have details like rehabilitation camps, law and order and recovery of arms."
State security advisor Kuldiep Singh said that lawful action will be taken against those displaying firearms at the parade.
Haokip advocated giving "political and administrative recognition to the ethnic separation" in the state, upping the ante from earlier vaguely explained demands for a "separate administration" for Kuki areas made by fellow Kuki community leaders.
The Supreme Court on Monday came to the rescue of 284 students from ethnic violence-hit Manipur by giving them the option of attending classes online at Manipur university or getting relocated to Assam University in Silchar or the North East Hill University in Shillong.
The ongoing crisis in Manipur has affected several others in the country in one way or the other. Over the years Manipur has produced brilliant sports person in the country.
Former India spinner and Rajya Sabha MP Harbhajan Singh has demanded "capital punishment" for all those who were involved in the heinous crime of parading two Manipuri women naked and allegedly gang-raping them.
The withdrawal of Assam Rifles comes at a time when several groups of women in valley districts launched a demonstration on Monday, demanding the removal of the paramilitary force from the ethnic strife-torn northeastern state.
A man who was part of the mob that paraded naked two tribal women in Kangpokpi district of Manipur and was seen dragging one of them was among four persons arrested on Thursday as the incident of May 4 drew widespread condemnation.
The Army and Assam Rifles were requisitioned in the night, and along with the state police, the forces arrested the violence by the morning, the spokesperson said.
Security forces have been diligently working to create buffer zones, such as the one established between Churachandpur and Bishnupur. However, this has proven insufficient to quell the unrest.
The mother of one of the girls who was stripped naked and paraded by a mob in Manipur wants capital punishment for the culprits and to see the remains of her son and husband who too died on that day.
The CBI has arrested from Pune a 22-year-old man suspected to be the mastermind behind the case of two missing Manipuri students who were believed to have been killed, officials said.
They said information has been circulated throughout all formations to ensure that the Manipur Police Commando uniform, black in colour, is not misused and they have been instructed to intensify the vigil.