The BJP government in Manipur has refused to appeal against the acquittal of party leader Lukhosei Zou, who was caught in a multi-crore drug case, and told the Supreme Court on Friday that it will appeal against the decision of a special court.
The drug haul case — which hit the headlines after a police officer accused BJP leaders and Manipur CM N Biren Singh of interference — was brought to the Supreme Court by Manipur social activist Babloo Loithongbam after Zou, who was made chairman of the Chandel Autonomous District, was acquitted.
Zou, who was arrested in 2018, later absconded and was then exonerated by a special court. Despite demands from citizens collectives and human rights groups, the Manipur government did not pursue the case and fought against his acquittal. Loitongbam, the executive director of the human rights group - Human Rights Alert, could not appeal in the Manipur High Court, as only the state government could do so.
In the Supreme Court, after the case was admitted, the apex court asked the BJP government on March 25 about its refusal to contest the acquittal. The state government, in its reply last week, said that it could not do so as the acquittal took place on March 18, 2021, and the documents came to the government only in April 2022.
During the hearing, the apex court also sought to look at the interpretation of the word “victim”. Loitongbam says that if the definition is altered, the case could be a landmark judgement.
“The way the interpretation of victim now works is based on Sec 2(wa) of the CrPC, which is a conservative estimate and is based on direct correlation to destruction of victim’s life, leaving out a range of people affected. This is not in line with the UN Declaration, we hope that a change comes about,” said Loitongbam.
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