SC asks Union to consider accommodating Manipur students in different varsities of country

The Supreme Court on Tuesday, November 28 asked the Union and Manipur government to look into a plea filed by a group of students, displaced due to ethnic strife in the north-eastern state, seeking accommodation in different Central universities in the country to prevent loss of one academic year.

At the outset, a bench, headed by CJI DY Chandrachud, asked senior advocate Meenakshi Arora, appearing on a petitioner’s behalf, to approach the Manipur High Court.

However, Arora contended that the displaced students are living in different states across the country and it would not be feasible to approach the Manipur High Court. She said that the petitioners – a group of 284 students under the umbrella of Manipur University Eimi Welfare Society – have already lost a valuable time of six months of the academic year.

The senior counsel added that similar relief was extended to migrant students from Kashmir in central varsities. Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, appearing for the Union government, said that the apex-court appointed committee should not be arrayed as a respondent in the petition filed under Article 32 of the Constitution.

The bench, also comprising Justices JB Pardiwala and Manoj Misra, asked Mehta and the Advocate General of Manipur to look into the grievance raised in the plea and posted the matter for hearing on December 4.