SC Seeks Exclusive Special Courts for Manipur Violence Cases

NEW DELHI, August 12, 2026: The Supreme Court on Monday (August 10, 2026), led by a bench comprising Chief Justice Surya Kant, Justice Joymalya Bagchi, and Justice V. Mohana, proposed setting up dedicated Special Courts in Guwahati to handle trials linked to the 2023 Manipur ethnic violence on a day-to-day basis.

The court requested the Chief Justice of the Gauhati High Court to evaluate creating two exclusive courts -- one dedicated to Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) cases and another to National Investigation Agency (NIA) cases -- to prevent trial delays caused by routine court backlogs.

Key Status Updates

Witness Examinations & CBI Cases

• Witness Backlog: A total of 904 witnesses were cited across CBI chargesheets, but 891 witnesses remain unexamined (only 13 have testified so far).

• CBI Case Count: The agency was entrusted with 31 cases.

  • Final reports filed in 27 cases (22 chargesheets and 5 closure reports).

  • Cognizance taken in 20 of the 22 chargesheeted cases.

  • 4 cases remain under active investigation.

  • 21 cases are triable by Sessions Courts, while 1 is triable by a Magistrate.

NIA Cases

• Entrusted with 30 cases.

• Chargesheets filed in 15 cases (charges framed in 7 of them); the remaining 15 cases are still under active probe.

• Geographically, 5 cases are before courts in Guwahati, 8 in Manipur, and 2 in Delhi.

Judicial Directives

Direction	Objective
Gauhati High Court Feasibility Report	The Registrar General of the Gauhati HC must submit a status report on the feasibility of creating exclusive courts before the next hearing.
Relocating Non-Manipur Matters	Transfer regular criminal matters out of these designated CBI/NIA courts so they can hear Manipur cases uninterrupted.
Victim Access to Case Records	The State Legal Services Authority was directed to compile Sessions Trial numbers and details so victims, families, and legal counsels can track case proceedings and access chargesheets.
Continued Probes	The court reiterated that regardless of ongoing local law and order situations, the CBI, NIA, and Special Investigation Teams (SITs) must proceed with investigations without delay.