SC asks Centre, Manipur to take up grievance of students seeking relocation to central universities

NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Tuesday asked the Centre and the Manipur government to address the grievance of 284 Manipur University students seeking relocation to other central universities to ensure no loss of studies due to the violence in the state.

The apex court was hearing a plea filed by the Manipur University EIMI Welfare Society which said these students have already lost around six months of their education and they be relocated to other central universities. The petitioner's counsel said most of these students have moved to different locations, including Delhi, West Bengal and Maharashtra.

A bench headed by Chief Justice D Y Chandrachud asked Solicitor General Tushar Mehta and the state's advocate general whether these students can be relocated to central universities depending on what courses they were following. "The petitioners have requested that these students may be relocated in other central universities so as to ensure that there is no loss of their studies," said the bench, also comprising justices J B Pardiwala and Manoj Misra.

"We have requested Tushar Mehta, Solicitor General, and the advocate general for Manipur to take up the matter so it can be appropriately resolved," it said. At the outset, the bench asked the counsel representing the petitioner to approach the Manipur High Court with their grievance.

When the counsel said the apex court is seized of the matter pertaining to violence in Manipur, the bench observed, "We don't want to entertain everything about Manipur. You move the high court." "Just allow us admission. We have already lost six months of our education. From May onwards, we had to move out of Imphal. We will have to go back again to pursue our writ there because the high court is situated there and it is not easy for us to follow it there," the petitioner's counsel said.

The counsel said all of these students were studying in Manipur University in Imphal when the violence broke out and they had to move out of the state. "We were in various years of our college. As of now, we have lost six months," the lawyer said.

The bench has posted the matter for further hearing on December 4. Manipur descended into chaos and untrammelled violence in May over a high court order directing the state government to consider including the non-tribal Meitei community in the list of Scheduled Tribes.

More than 170 people have been killed and several hundred others injured since ethnic violence first broke out in the state on May 3 when a 'Tribal Solidarity March' was organised in hill districts to protest against the majority Meitei community's demand for ST status.