Meanwhile, ATSUM throws its weight behind the former ADC chairman of Chandel and warns that it will not remain silent if the government tries to appease the civil bodies whose sole interest is to “incite mob agitation to do their whims and fancy”.
TFM Desk
Manipur chief minister N Biren Singh has categorically ruled out going to higher court against the verdict of special ND&PS court acquitting former ADC chairman of Chandel Lhukhosei Zou and six others in connection with a 2018 multi-crore drug seizure case.
In an interview aired by a local TV cable news channel on Sunday, Biren said that there are many cases for which there are demands for appeal to higher court. “It will be a burden if the government appeals all these cases,” he added.
However, the government has started looking into whether there were loopholes from the department or government’s side, he said.
Meanwhile, amidst the public outcry and protests by CSOs and Meira Paibi organisations against the acquittal of Lhukhosei Zou, the All Tribal Students’ Union Manipur (ATSUM) has appealed to the government not to further “victimize” Lhukhosei Zou or appeal against the court judgement as the “innocent man” has already been subjected to incalculable torment and suffering.
A release by ATSUM Information and Publicity secretary Khaiminlen Doungel also warned that the student body will not remain silent if the government tries to appease the civil bodies whose sole interest is to “incite mob agitation to do their whims and fancy”. ATSUM vehemently supports the war on drugs but will also defend people wrongly accused of the crime, it added.
ATSUM said that it is of the opinion that the 2018 multi-crore drug haul case involving Lhukhosei Zou is an “open and shut” case, and does not warrant reinvestigation as the court has passed the order after a series of trials and after an “exhaustive” investigation of nearly two and half years.
As per the investigation, ATSUM said, the court has drawn the conclusion that Lhukhosei Zou is “innocent of the charges” and was released. The investigation also discovered the people who were really involved in the case and found them guilty as charged, it added.
ATSUM is dismayed that some civil bodies are trying to ride “roughshod” the government to appeal against a man whose innocence has been proven. As per the court ruling the guilty have been jailed and punished and the innocent have been vindicated and released, the student body asserted.