Manipur Violence: SC Rejects Transgender Activist’s Plea Seeking to Quash FIRs against her

The Supreme Court declined to entertain a plea filed by a transgender activist seeking to quash the FIRs lodged against her for fasting until death to protest ethnic clashes in Manipur.

A three-judge bench led by Chief Justice D Y Chandrachud, however, granted the activist, Malem Thongam, the liberty to approach the Manipur High Court to address her grievances.

“The petitioner is free to approach the High Court of Manipur under section 482 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973. Therefore, we decline to entertain a petition under Article 32 of the Constitution of India,” the bench, which also included Justices J B Pardiwala and Manoj Misra, stated.

Thongam commenced her hunger strike at Delhi University on February 22. She later traveled to Manipur on February 27, where she continued her fast at Imphal’s Kangla western gate.

Manipur Police arrested Thongam on March 2 on charges of attempting suicide and promoting enmity between groups. She was released on March 5 but was detained again the next day for public protest.

Manipur faced widespread chaos and violence in May last year following a high court directive instructing the state government to consider including the non-tribal Meitei community in the Scheduled Tribes (STs) list.

The directive sparked ethnic clashes in the northeastern state. Since the violence erupted on May 3 last year during a “Tribal Solidarity March” in the hill districts protesting the Meitei community’s demand for ST status, more than 170 people have lost their lives, and several hundred have been injured.