Recently, the Supreme Court overturned a Manipur High Court order that had instructed the CBI to locate a rape convict, who is reportedly absconding abroad, within eight weeks.

The apex court deemed the directive "unnecessary," as the state had already formed a special team to apprehend the convict.

A bench comprising Justice B.V. Nagarathna and Justice Kotiswar Singh, however, stated that the Manipur government was free to request assistance from the Centre in locating Timothi L. Changsan, and the central government would provide support if such a request was made.

Changsan was convicted for the rape of minors at the North East Children’s Home in Churachandpur in 2019. The Supreme Court issued its order while allowing an appeal filed by the CBI, which challenged two orders issued by the Manipur High Court on October 4 last year and January 10 this year, directing the agency to trace the convict. The high court had issued these directions after taking suo motu cognizance of media reports.

The CBI filed the appeal in the Supreme Court, challenging the directions on the grounds that the agency had not been made a party to the case. During Thursday's hearing, the CBI objected to the directive, arguing that as a premier investigating agency, it should not have been instructed by the high court to track down a convict.

 “We find that the directions issued by the high court to the CBI were unnecessary. Therefore, the directions are set aside,” the Supreme Court said.