'Deeply disturbing': SC on long delay in registering FIR in Manipur women paraded naked case

New Delhi: Having called as "deeply disturbing" the video of two women being paraded naked in Manipur, the Supreme Court Tuesday said there was a long delay in registering the FIR in connection with the incident.

Tension had soared in Manipur, tormented by unabated ethnic violence, after a May 4 video surfaced last week that showed two women from one of the warring communities being paraded naked by a mob from the other side.

"One thing is very clear that there is long delay in registering FIR in the video case," a bench headed by Chief Justice D Y Chandrachud remarked orally.

At the outset, the Manipur government told the bench it has lodged 6,523 FIRs after ethnic violence erupted in Manipur in May.

Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, appearing for the Centre and the Manipur government, told the bench the state police lodged a 'zero' FIR in the case of parading the two women naked.

Mehta told the top court that Manipur police have arrested seven people, including a juvenile, in the video case.

It appears that the state police recorded the statement of women after the video surfaced, Mehta told the bench.

The hearing is currently underway.

Earlier in the day, the top court directed the CBI not to proceed with recording the statements of the victim women during the day as it is scheduled to hear a batch of petitions on the issue at 2 pm.

The bench, which also comprises justices J B Pardiwala and Manoj Misra, took note of the submissions by lawyer Nizam Pasha, appearing for the two women, that the CBI has asked them to come and depose before it during the day.

The top court on Monday described as "horrendous" the video amid reports that the police handed them over to the rioting mob. It asked searching questions about the delayed registration of the FIR and mooted the idea of setting up a committee of retired judges or an SIT to oversee the probe.