Supreme Court sets aside Manipur high court order asking CBI to find absconding rape convict :

The Supreme Court has set aside an order of the Manipur High Court directing the CBI to locate and produce a rape convict on the run.

A bench of Justices B V Nagarathna and N Kotiswar Singh relieved the agency of the task saying the order passed by the high court was unnecessary.

“We find that the request made by the CBI is genuine, particularly when the state has constituted a special team to trace the convict.

Therefore, we find that directions issued by the high court to CBI were unnecessary. Therefore, the directions are set aside. However, it is necessary to observe that the state will make all endeavors to trace the convict,” the bench said.

If in that regard, a request was made by the Manipur government to the Home Ministry, the Centre may ensure all assistance as required, the bench added.

Challenging the October 4, 2023 order of the high court, the CBI contended before the top court that the Manipur police were already looking into the matter and any interference would be a duplication of efforts.

The CBI submitted before the high court that the direction would be difficult to comply with, but said its submission wasn’t accepted.

On January 10, the high court reiterated its direction to the CBI to locate the absconding convict within eight weeks.

Special judge POCSO Imphal West Maibam Manojkumar convicted Timothy L Changsang, administrator of North Eastern Children Home, Rengkai village Churachandpur, under Sections 6 and 10 of POCSO Act and Section 506 of the IPC on April 30, 2019, and issued a non-bailable warrant to arrest him.

Timothy was charged with raping 14 minor girls for over two years since 2012, at a children’s home he ran. The incident came to light in February 2015, after a minor girl inmate, complained to the police.