SC grants interim protection to ex-Army officer facing FIR for his book on Anglo-Kuki War

The Supreme Court on Tuesday granted interim protection from police action to retired Colonel Vijay Chenji, who is among the authors of two books from the Kuki-Zo community accused of distorting Manipur’s history, Live Law reported.

The first book titled The Anglo-Kuki War 1917-1919 was written by Chenji, while the second book The Anglo- Kuki War, 1917-1919: A Frontier Uprising Against Imperialism During the First World War was jointly edited by Jangkhomang Guite and Thongkholal Haokip.

Two separate first information reports were filed against the author and editors of the two books on August 7 and August 9 by the Manipur Police on a complaint filed by the Federation of Haomee, a civil society organisation based in Imphal.

The police had booked Chenji, Guite and Haokip under the provisions of the Indian Penal Code pertaining to waging war against the Indian government, promoting enmity between different groups and using as true a declaration known to be false. Guite and Haokip were granted protection earlier by the Supreme Court on September 6, according to The Leaflet.

Guite is an assistant professor at Jawaharlal Nehru University’s Centre for Historical Studies, while Haokip is an assistant professor at the university’s Centre for the Study of Law and Governance.

On Tuesday, senior advocate Anand Grover, representing Chenji, told the Supreme Court that the lawyers appearing in the case...

Read more