Sairabanoo vs Union Of India
2026 Latest Caselaw 63 Mani

Manipur High Court

Sairabanoo vs Union Of India on 27 January, 2026

Author: Ahanthem Bimol Singh

Bench: Ahanthem Bimol Singh

SHAMURAILATPAM SUSHIL Digitally signed by SHAMURAILATPAM
                      SUSHIL SHARMA
SHARMA                Date: 2026.01.27 18:44:07 +05'30'
                                                                            Sl. No. 1
                            IN THE HIGH COURT OF MANIPUR
                                      AT IMPHAL

                                  WP(Crl.) No. 19 of 2018

                 Sairabanoo
                                                      Petitioner
                                          Vs.
                 Union of India
                                                    Respondent

                                    BEFORE
                  HON'BLE THE CHIEF JUSTICE MR. M. SUNDAR
                 HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE AHANTHEM BIMOL SINGH

                                          ORDER

(Order of the court was made by M. Sundar, CJ)

27.01.2026

[1] Captioned matter pertains to alleged custodial death.

[2] In the hearing today, Mr. M. Rakesh, learned counsel for writ

petitioner, Mr. Kh. Samarjit, learned senior advocate and DSGI (Deputy

Solicitor General of India) instructed by Mr. N. Nongdamba, learned counsel

for R1 to R3 and Mr. W. Niranjit, learned State Counsel for R4 to R6 are

before this Court.

[3] 'R1 to R4' shall be referred to as 'UoI' denoting 'Union of India'

and 'R4 to R6' shall be referred to as 'State' for convenience.

[4] All the afore-referred counsel and learned DSGI submit that

with regard to the same subject matter, National Human Rights Commission

(NHRC) recommended a compensation of Rs. 5 lakhs and the same has been

assailed before in this Court by way of a writ petition by State vide WP(C)

No. 672 of 2024 and that WP(C) No. 672 of 2024 is pending.

[5] Considering the overlap and the issues being inextricably

intertwined all the aforementioned counsel and DSGI before us consented

to have WP(C) No. 672 of 2024 tagged with captioned WP and heard out

together by Division Bench. This common/joint submission made by all

counsel is recorded.

[6] Be that as it may, WP(C) No. 672 of 2024 is pending before a

Single Judge and we are informed by learned State Counsel that it is

classified under Category Code No. 10183 (compensation) under Appendix-

22 of High Court of Manipur Rules, 2019. Category Code No. 10183 will have

to be heard by a Single Bench but there is another category with

nomenclature 'Death after detention in custody' and the category code is

10192. This has to be heard by a Division Bench vide Appendix No. 22 of

High Court of Manipur Rules, 2019.

[7] Iner-alia in the light of consent, we find that there is no

impediment in the afore-referred tagging request being acceded to. It has

become necessary to record this position as one tier viz., intra-court appeal

will become unavailable for the parties in the writ petition if tagged and

heard together.

[8] In the light of the afore-referred judicial order, where consent

of counsel for parties has been recorded, Registry is directed to place the

captioned matter along with WP(C) No. 672 of 2024 before Chief Justice on

the administrative side and seek suitable orders regarding tagging and

listing.

                   JUDGE                            CHIEF JUSTICE

Sushil