The Supreme Court of India on Friday asked the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) to submit a status report within two weeks on its probe into 11 FIRs related to the 2023 ethnic violence cases in Manipur.A Bench comprising Chief Justice of India Surya Kant and Justice Joymalya Bagchi suggested that, instead of the top court, the Manipur High Court, which has a new Chief Justice, or the Gauhati High Court — or both — could monitor the trials and related developments in the ethnic violence cases.The Bench also directed the Centre and the Manipur Government to ensure implementation of the recommendations made by the committee headed by Justice Gita Mittal on the rehabilitation and welfare of victims of the violence. The committee has submitted several reports outlining measures for relief and rehabilitation.The matter has been posted for further hearing on February 26.More than 200 people have been killed, hundreds injured and thousands displaced since ethnic violence broke out in the state on May 3, 2023, following a Tribal Solidarity March organised in the hill districts to protest the Meitei community’s demand for Scheduled Tribe status. Last month, the Supreme Court extended the tenure of the Justice Gita Mittal committee till July 31 to oversee relief and rehabilitation measures.Advocate Vrinda Grover, appearing for one of the women victims who died recently, alleged that the CBI had failed to inform her about the filing of a chargesheet in her rape case.She submitted that the victim, a Kuki woman, died last month due to an illness allegedly linked to the trauma of gang rape. Grover further claimed that the main accused were not appearing before the trial court and that the CBI was also absent during proceedings, describing the situation as “shocking”.Maintaining that victims’ rights could not be compromised, Solicitor General Tushar Mehta suggested that monitoring could be entrusted to the Manipur High Court.Senior advocate Colin Gonsalves, representing a tribal body forum of the Manipur Kukis, told the court that several committee reports had been filed but copies were not available to them. He submitted that rehabilitation efforts had stalled and progress in prosecution remained slow.