The full bench High Court (HC) of Manipur today directed the central and state authorities to materialize several orders passed by the court to ensure free movement of trucks along the national highways into action.
The court cautioned that responsibility would be fixed on the person concerned for disobeying the directions passed earlier.
Consequently, order would be passed which the court would deem fit and proper, said an order of the full bench comprising of the Chief Justice Rakesh Ranjan Prasad, Justice N Kotiswar Singh and Justice Kh Nobin Singh.
The HC order said, “After hearing counsels appearing for the parties at number of occasions, we went on passing orders giving directions for having smooth vehicular traffic over NH 37 and also NH 2. Now the time has come to carry out all those directions which we passed earlier particularly the directions given under order dated January 25 and January 31. In such event, we are again hereby directing all concerned including secretary, ministry of defence, government of India, secretary, ministry of road transport and highways, government of India as well as ministry of home affairs and also the commissioner cum secretary, consumer affairs and public distribution, government of Manipur to carry out the directions given earlier so as to have smooth passage of goods carriages/lorries/tankers of petroleum products on the national highways, particularly NH-37”.
The HC directed the respondents to submit action taken reports before the court on February 7.
The court also asked the advocate general to provide list of all the office bearers of United Naga Council so that they may be listed and heard in the present case.
The state government was directed to furnish reports relating to transportation of quantity of petroleum products, food grains and other consumable items. At the same time, the government should do the needful positively in the matter relating to repairing of NH-37.
On January 25 last, the HC passed several orders asking the central government to provide 72 additional companies of Central para-military forces at the disposal of the state government for deployment along either of the NH-2 or NH-37.
The HC also asked the GOC-57 Mountain Division/IGAR (South) to take up adequate security measures to take adequate and effective measures along the areas under their control covering NH-2 and also the area covering NH-37 so that there may not be any recurrence of firing by anyone on the convoys.
It also directed the security forces to arrest any person against whom a reasonable suspicion exists that he would be committing a cognizable offence in order to put hindrance in the movement of vehicular traffic on NH-2 or NH-37 in the area under their control, among others.
On January 31, the HC ordered the CAF&PD department to introduce mechanism for distribution of food grains.
Source: Imphal Free Press
