On Wednesday, the Supreme Court stepped in to support a professor from Manipur who had an FIR registered against him due to his book titled "The Anglo-Kuki War 1917-1919," which was published in 2019.

The petitioners, Dr. Jangkhomang Guite and Dr. Thongkholal Haokip, are members of the Kuki-Zo community.

In a concise hearing, a bench led by Chief Justice of India (CJI) DY Chandrachud expressed surprised at the prospect of filing an FIR for a book that was authored in 2018 and published in 2019.

Senior counsel Anand Grover, appearing for the JNU professor, told the bench, "My client hired a lawyer in Manipur, but their homes and offices have been ransacked. So I cannot hire a lawyer in Manipur. I need to be protected."

Further, he submitted that the petitioners have not yet received the copies of the FIRs.

The Supreme Court then issued a notice and said no coercive steps should be taken against the petitioners in the meantime, while slating the case for a further hearing after three weeks.

According to the petition, the petitioners had on August 10 come to know that an FIR had been filed against them