A Supreme Court bench expressed grave concern and anguish on Thursday over documented reports of unnatural deaths, chronic infant malnutrition, and deteriorating sanitary conditions across temporary relief camps housing displaced families in ethnic-conflict-affected regions of Manipur. The bench conducted an urgent hearing on public interest petitions tracking humanitarian conditions in the northeastern state.
The apex court directed the state administration and Union Ministry of Home Affairs to immediately establish dedicated medical inspection teams comprising clinical psychologists, pediatricians, and public health officers across all operational displacement shelters. The judges underscored that the state bears an absolute constitutional obligation under Article 21 to safeguard the lives, health, and dignity of displaced citizens residing under state custody.
The court also ordered comprehensive magisterial inquiries into every unnatural death reported within the camps over the preceding twelve months, requiring district magistrates to submit detailed forensic findings to the court-appointed monitoring committee. State counsel assured the bench that additional nutritional supplies, potable water filtration units, and round-the-clock emergency medical response vans are being deployed across affected hill and valley districts.
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Sources:
https://www.livelaw.in/top-stories/livelaw-breaking-news-alerts-17-september-2026-550413