A Public Interest Litigation (PIL) was filed in the High Court of Manipur for quashing the order to extend the “Disturbed Area” status in the state (excluding Imphal Municipal Areas), citing repeated violation of the rule.
Moreover, the PIL stated that the latest order for extension of “Disturbed Area” under Section 3 of the Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act, 1958 which was issued on December 8, 2021, was yet to published in the official Gazette of Manipur.
The division bench comprising Chief Justice Sanjay Kumar and Justice Muralidaran on Thursday listed the matter for hearing on March 31. The petition was filed by a lawyer, Sanoujam Shyamcharan Singh represented by advocate Rakesh Meihoubam.
Seeking a relief, the petitioner pointed out certain irregularities and as per Section 3 of the Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act, 1958, the notification for declaring an area to be Disturbed Area the same should be published in the Official Gazette and otherwise the notification cannot be given effect to.
Nevertheless, on December 8, 2021 an order issued by the Special Secretary (Home), Government of Manipur, which declared “Disturbed Area” in the entire area of Manipur excluding the Imphal Municipal Area under the provisions of the Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act, 1958 in so far as it gives retrospective operation without any legislative sanction to do so and the same is not yet published in the Gazette of Manipur.
In his petition, it is stated that he visited the office of the Directorate of Printing and Stationery, government of Manipur for obtaining a copy of the Gazette publication of the notification of December 8, 2021.
However, the notification was not published in the Gazette of Manipur. Further, the notification is to be given retrospective operation with effect from December 1, 2021 for a period of one year, which is against the established norms and against the legislative mandate and violative of the directive of the Supreme Court of India, it added.
The petition stated “that before upholding the constitutional validity of the Central Act, by the Supreme Court, the government of Manipur issued notification for the declaration of the disturbed area without any specific period of time. Although the Supreme Court has specifically directed that there should be periodic review of the declaration before the expiry of six months, the government of Manipur issued notification for declaring disturbed area status for one year after the expiry of earlier one every year without any break”.
Series of violations of the Supreme Court direction has been seen while declaring the disturb area notification it claimed. On December 31, 2018, the Home Department, government of Manipur issued notification for declaring disturbed area status of the entire area of Manipur excluding the Imphal Municipal Area for a period of one year with retrospective effect from December 1, 2018. In subsequent years, similar notifications were issued by authorising its application with retrospective effect. Recently, on December 8, 2021, the Home Department, government of Manipur issued a notification stating inter alia that in exercise of the power conferred by Section 3 of the Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act, 1985 (Act No.28 of 1958) as amended time to time, the governor of Manipur hereby accords ex-post facto approval to declare the entire state of Manipur excluding Imphal Municipal areas as ‘Disturbed Area’ for a period of one year with retrospective effect from December 1, 2021.
Actually, the existence of the said notification was made known to the general public on January 10, 2022 through various print and electronic media including AIR Imphal. Common people of Manipur are very much against the imposition of AFSPA in Manipur for several decades in the name of the counter-insurgency operation. Actually, the application of Act, became counter-productive as the intensity and dimension of armed conflict in the state of Manipur have widened and a large number of innocent lost their lives in the conflict, it said. At the same time, no prosecution could be initiated against the armed forces personnel of the Union, who were involved in the killings of several individuals in fake encounters.
While the state claimed that the law and order situation of the state has improved considerably in the recent past. In other words, the grave law and order situation which required the use of the armed forces in aid of the civil power has already gone, it said. Even though every prudent common man desire to have a peaceful life without disturbed area tag in their daily normal activities, they could not approach the court for ventilating their grievances due to lack of expertise and are in a disadvantageous position, the petition continued.
The AFSPA has been criticised by Human Rights Watch as a "tool of state abuse, oppression, and discrimination". Justice Jeevan Reddy Commission constituted by the government of India recommended repealing AFSPA as "the Act is a symbol of hate, oppression, and instrument of high-handedness". It had submitted its report on June 16, 2005. After 10 years, the government of India rejected the recommendation made by Justice Jeevan Reddy Commission to repeal the AFSPA.
