IMPHAL: The Supreme Court has directed the Manipur police not to take any coercive action against retired army officer Col (Dr) Vijaykant Chenji in connection with an FIR registered against him in the state.
The FIR was filed against the retired army officer for the contents of his book The Anglo Kuki War 1917-19: Victory in Defeat.
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The Supreme Court also gave protection to Professor Henminlunin against coercive action by Manipur police in connection with another FIR based on his alleged hate speech.
The Supreme Court was informed that members of a particular community in Manipur were forced to approach the top court for relief as lawyers in the state are not willing to appear for them due to threats.
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Responding to this, chief justice of India (CJI) asked Col (retd) Vijaykant Chenji and Professor Henminlun to file their affidavits stating that they were forced to approach the Supreme Court directly for relief because no lawyers were willing to appear for them in the high court in Manipur.
The CJI, remarking that the petitioner was a retired colonel and had to be protected, said: “He is a retired colonel. He wrote a book. He must be protected. The only question is do we protect you here or send you back to the high court.”