On Friday, July 28, the Supreme Court refused an urgent hearing of a plea by a professor of the University of Hyderabad (UoH), seeking quashing of criminal proceedings initiated against him. Dr Kham Khan Suan Hausing, a native of Manipur, had also received a summons for his personal presence before a district court in Imphal.
The matter was listed before Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud on Friday, but it was cancelled. Then, Senior Advocate Anand Grover, appearing for Hausing, mentioned the case for an urgent hearing before a bench headed by Justice Sanjay Kishan Kaul. But Justice Kaul also declined to list the matter on Friday, stating that it would come up for a hearing on Monday, July 31, as per a report by ANI.
Hausing is a professor and the Head of the Department of Political Science at UoH. Chief Judicial Magistrate, Imphal East, Manipur, issued a summons asking him to be before it on July 28, in pursuance of the criminal complaint filed against him by Manihar Moirangthem Singh, a member of the Meitei Tribes Union (MTU).
The Imphal court took cognisance of the offences made out under Sections 153A (which deals with promoting enmity between different groups), 295A (which deals with acts outraging religious feelings), 505 (1) (statements conducting public mischief), 298 (deliberate intention of wounding the religious feelings of any person) and 120B (criminal conspiracy) of Indian Penal Code (IPC). The complainant claimed that Prof Hausing’s statements in an interview defamed the Meitei community and fueled communal enmity in Manipur.
In the said interview, Hausing allegedly advocated a separate administrative setup for the Kuki community. Hausing sought a record of the entire complaint, including the statement of the complainant and witnesses, a copy of the complaint, a copy of the FIR lodged and orders passed by the court. He added that the summons was issued to him in "abject ignorance" of the communal tension and disturbance prevailing in Manipur.
Hausing's plea cited the case of a lawyer, Deeksha Dwivedi, who was granted interim protection after an FIR was registered against her by the Manipur Police for offences of sedition and conspiracy to wage war. The petitioner said he was similarly placed with Dwivedi’s case as he apprehends that amidst the communal tension between the two communities, there is a threat to his life and liberty if he travels to the state to answer the summons.
Hausing further stated in his plea that on July 6, a summons was issued by the magistrate but no case against the offences under which he was charged was made out. On July 13, it also came to his knowledge that a fresh complaint dated July 10, by a person Khomdrom Manikanta Singh, had been filed with the officer-in-charge, Imphal West Police station, alleging that Hausing is not a citizen of India and his name was added to the state's electoral rolls by manipulation, fraud, forgery, and conspiracy.
The violence in Manipur between the Meiteis and Kuki communities erupted after a rally by the All Tribal Students Union of Manipur (ATSUM) on May 3. The state has been in the grip of violence and civilian unrest for over three months now, as per ANI.
