Guwahati, July 11, 2023: The Supreme Court has granted protection from arrest to a woman lawyer in relation to an FIR filed by the Manipur Police regarding her visit to the strife-hit state as part of a fact-finding mission.

A bench led by Chief Justice D Y Chandrachud considered the arguments presented by senior lawyer Siddharth Dave, representing advocate Deeksha Dwivedi, and safeguarded her from arrest. The court has listed her plea for further hearing on Friday.

The bench, also comprising justices P S Narasimha and Manoj Misra, instructed Dave to provide a copy of the petition to the counsel assisting Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, who is representing the Manipur government in a series of petitions related to the ethnic violence in the state.

Deeksha Dwivedi was a member of a three-member fact-finding team from the National Federation of Indian Women (NFIW), a women lawyers’ association.

During her fact-finding mission on the Manipur violence, an FIR was registered by the state police under various sections of the law, including the charge of waging war against India.

In related proceedings on Monday, the top court emphasized that it should not be used as a platform to escalate tensions in the state. The court urged the warring ethnic groups to exercise restraint during the legal proceedings.

The court was hearing petitions filed by different NGOs, including the ‘Manipur Tribal Forum’, which sought Army protection for the Kuki tribe, Dinganglung Gangmei, chairman of the Hills Area Committee of the Manipur Legislative Assembly, who challenged the high court’s order designating the Meitei community as a Scheduled Tribe, and the high court bar association, among others.

Source: PTI