The panel is headed by former Jammu and Kashmir High Court Chief Justice Gita Mittal and includes former Bombay High Court judge Justice Shalini Phansaklar Joshi and former Delhi High Court judge Justice Asha Menon. THE COMMITTEE of former high court judges appointed by the Supreme Court to oversee relief and rehabilitation in Manipur has submitted three reports — on loss and reconstruction of “essential documentation”; upgrading the compensation; and appointment of domain experts to facilitate its work. The panel is headed by former Jammu and Kashmir High Court Chief Justice Gita Mittal and includes former Bombay High Court judge Justice Shalini Phansaklar Joshi and former Delhi High Court judge Justice Asha Menon. Taking note of the reports, the Supreme Court on Monday said it would issue detailed orders regarding the committee’s recommendations at the next hearing on August 25. “At this moment we will say that the expert committee constituted by this court has filed three reports namely: a report highlighting the fact that several residents of Manipur may have lost their essential documentations which need to be re-constructed; the Manipur victims compensation scheme needs to be upgraded to bring it in conformity with the scheme propounded by NALSA (National Legal Services Authority); the proposal of the committee for the appointment of domain experts to facilitate its work,” said a three-judge Bench headed by Chief Justice of India D Y Chandrachud. “At this stage, we request the Registry to share the three reports of the expert committee. Soft copies be shared with all counsel and with the counsel instructing the SG,” it said. “Certain procedural directions would be required to facilitate the work of the committee, including requisite administrative assistance; funding to meet the administrative and other expenses of the committee; necessary publicity to the work which is being done by the committee by setting up a web portal; and other infrastructural requirements,” the Bench said. The court asked Advocate Vrinda Grover, appearing for some of the petitioners, to collate the suggestions in this regard and share them with the Advocate General for Manipur, preferably by 10 am on August 24. “The proposed procedural directions to be issued by this court may thus be formulated with an agreed understanding on all sides to facilitate this court to pass the necessary orders,” the Bench, also comprising Justices J B Pardiwala and Manoj Misra, said. Regarding the loss of identity papers, the CJI said the report “highlights the need to have some nodal officer so that documents like Aadhaar card can be reconstructed. Benefits are now distributed through the modality of the Aadhaar card. So that is very crucial because that is the link to the bank accounts”. He pointed out that the Manipur Victim Compensation Scheme says that if the victim has received any benefit under any other scheme, then nothing will be payable under the state’s scheme. “On the other hand, various other states say that if you receive some benefit under some other scheme, that will be taken into consideration in deciding what to disburse,” he said. Therefore, the committee has recommended that the compensation scheme be amended to bring it in conformity with the NALSA scheme which is constantly revised. Senior Advocate Indira Jaising said the committee has also raised funding issues. “What she (Justice Mittal) says is that the order of the court does not provide for funding of all this work. So there needs to be an order that either the Union or State should fund it,” Jaising submitted, adding that the committee should have the power to lay down its own procedure. “Otherwise for minor issues, the committee has to come back again and again to the court”. The senior counsel added that the committee does not have an office. “She made a request to the Delhi HC Chief Justice to be able to use the victim friendly court office which the Chief Justice has allowed. But if some formal arrangement can be made for the venue of the committee, that will help a lot,” Jaising said. The CJI recalled that the SC had appointed Justice Mittal to supervise the setting-up of the vulnerable witness deposition centres across India. He said he would have a word with Justice Mittal as well as the Delhi HC Chief Justice and see if the current arrangement meets the committee’s requirements. If not, he said he would request the Ministry of Home Affairs to identify an office. The CJI said the court was waiting for the committee’s feedback on procedural requirements.