New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Friday, August 25, said that the trial of criminal cases connected with the Manipur violence that the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) is probing can be conducted in Assam.According to Bar and Bench, the top court said victims should not be expected to travel to Assam and should instead be facilitated to provide statements through video conferences. The bench led by Chief Justice of India (CJI) D.Y. Chandrachud was assured by solicitor general (SG) Tushar Mehta that proper internet facilities shall be provided in Manipur to allow statements via a video conference. However, those who wish to travel to Guwahati to appear in court physically can do so.“So you want the statements to be recorded in Manipur and not in Assam or wherever the victims are … Chief Justice of Gauhati High Court will take care and the entire process will be done virtually … We will not ask the survivor to travel to Assam.. and we will have statements and evidence recorded in Manipur,” the CJI observed orally in response to concerns raised by lawyers Colin Gonsalves and Vrinda Grover, according to Bar and Bench.In response to Senior Advocate Indira Jaising’s query over why Assam has been chosen for the conduct of the trial,SG Mehta said that Assam was chosen because it has “maximum” internet connectivity.The top court also passed some directions to ensure a fair process. Among these was asking the chief justice of the Gauhati high court to nominate “one or more officers above the rank of Judicial Magistrate First Class and sessions judge to deal with such trial cases”.It said that judicial custody shall be permitted in Manipur, while the recording of statements under Section 164 of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC) shall be recorded in the presence of a local magistrate in Manipur. The acting chief justice of the Manipur high court shall designate one or more magistrates for this, the apex court said, according to Bar and Bench.All applications for the production of the accused, remand, judicial custody, extension of custody, and other proceedings are allowed to be conducted online, bearing in mind both distance and security issues at the courts that will be designated to conduct the trial.The bench also said that the chief justice of the Gauhati high court shall nominate judges who are conversant with one or more languages spoken in Manipur to deal with the criminal trial.The court’s directions came during a hearing of a batch of pleas related to the ethnic clashes between the Meitei and Kuki communities in Manipur. Among the petitioners were two Kuki women whose assault by a mob was recorded on video and later went viral.After the video emerged, the top court took suo motu cognizance of the matter and constituted an all-women committee – headed by the former chief justice of the Jammu and Kashmir high court Gita Mittal – to suggest measures. It had filed three reports on its findings on the violence, suggesting recovery and reconstruction of documents lost in arson and gunfire and just compensation rules and the appointment of domain experts.Ethnic clashes in Manipur have been ongoing since May 3. More than 150 people have been killed and several thousands have been displaced. Leaders of the Kuki community say they have no faith in the government led by the BJP’s N. Biren Singh, a Meitei, and that a separate administration for the Kuki tribe is the only way forward.