Yesterday, Senior Advocate Anand Grover told the Supreme Court that that individuals from a specific community in Manipur are compelled to seek relief directly from the apex court because local lawyers are unwilling to represent them, citing concerns of threats and intimidation.

Advocate Anand Grover appeared before a bench presided over by Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud, representing two petitioners. The first petitioner, Vijaykant Chenji, is a 76-year-old retired colonel of the Indian Army who faced an FIR for his book titled 'The Anglo-Kuki War 1917-19: Victory in Defeat,' which was published in January 2022. The second petitioner, Henminlun, is an activist who is the subject of an FIR related to a speech he delivered.

During the hearing, Grover stated that the petitioner faced considerable difficulty in securing legal representation within the State of Manipur. Lawyers who had taken up cases similar to the present one before the High Court had their offices vandalized, and as a result, they were reluctant to take on such cases. Grover submitted.

"A book was published by him one year ago. He's a colonel. There is not a word about the communities in the book, just military tactics and he is prosecuted. In Manipur, the lawyers' houses and offices were ransacked and two of them are now in the camp. They cannot instruct me."

Solicitor General of India Tushar Mehta, appearing for the State of Manipur, said–

"This issue is being raised repeatedly. Whenever any riot takes place, some lawyer, some doctor, some engineer-it happens...not a lawyer who represented..."

To this, Grover responded–

"Of course the lawyer who represented. I don't think my learned friend knows the facts. I will show him the photographs. It is a very shocking incident. The learned advocate- three of them were appearing. He rang me up and said that I cannot appear in the matter because of issues. They are from Imphal. They belong to a community. They withdraw their appearance before the court. Their houses and offices were ransacked. One of them had to flee. The other one has taken refuge in the CRPF camp. I can't get anyone to do anything or file anything."

However, Solicitor General Tushar Mehta countered this argument by asserting that the High Court of Manipur was currently in session, and there appeared to be a 'pattern' of counsels informing the Supreme Court otherwise. He stated -

"Let the secretary general of this court speak to the registrar general of the High Court and ask if the High Court is functioning...One section is bringing everything here and painting a picture that the courts are closed...Yesterday, I was told that lawyers are appearing physically as well as virtually. My learned friend can appear virtually. There is something more than that. I am not on this matter. I am just saying that there is a larger pattern by a certain section."

The CJI, remarking that the petitioner was a retired colonel and had to be protected, said–

"He is a retired colonel. He wrote a book. He must be protected. The only question is do we protect you here or send you back to the High Court..."

Eventually, the court directed for the petitioners to file an affidavit as mentioned earlier. The CJI remarked–

"First, we have called for an affidavit from you. Then we will ask the Registrar General of the High Court to submit a report because if there is substance in this, this is a very serious matter. The lawyers are not appearing. And then we will indicate the steps that we will take. First, we would require your client to put the oath to paper. Then we will ask the State of Manipur to verify and then we will call for a report from the Registrar General. Even if the lawyer is not available, we will find out if legal aid for your client can be made available. Our conscience has to be satisfied that people are not being represented."

As the court closed its proceedings, the CJI also remarked– "We also don't want to convert our court into 482 court. We need a balance, a solution."