Four Manipur lawyers withdraw from representing Kuki Professor in High Court after threats

Four Imphal based lawyers have decided not to represent Professor Kham Khan Suan Hausing of the Kuki community in a case before the Manipur High Court after members of the Meitei community allegedly threatened them. [Kham Khan Suan Hausing vs State of Manipur and Ors.].Advocate S Chittaranjan told Justice A Guneshwar Sharma that he and his colleagues have decided to withdraw themselves from the case due to 'personal difficulties'.The Court took note of the lawyers' statements and permitted them to withdraw from the case.However, as per media reports, the lawyers decided to withdraw from the case following threats from members of the Meitei community. .Hausing, a Kuki academic, has been vocal about the alleged role of the State government in radicalising the Meitei community. He is facing a private criminal case in Imphal filed by Meitei civilians for an interview he had given to a news website. He is being represented by Senior Advocate Anand Grover, who was being assisted by advocates S Chittaranjan, Victor Chongtham, Th Zingo, and A Priyokumar Sharma..However, threats from members of the Meitei community later prompted the advocates assisting Grover to withdraw from the case, as per a report by The Hindu.Chongtham, one of the lawyers, informed The Hindu on Saturday that these threats had preceded the decision to withdraw from the case. The report further quoted Grover as having said that the lawyers withdrew due to facing threats and vandalism.Professor Hausing is also reported to have mentioned that the lawyers received threats on Thursday and that one of their offices was vandalized on Friday..The State of Manipur has been witnessing a spate of violent clashes since earlier this year, in the wake of opposition by certain tribes to the demand by the majority Meitei community to grant them Scheduled Tribes status.The Supreme Court of India is presently hearing a batch of petitions concerning the violence in Manipur, including a plea by two women from the Kuki-Zomi community who were seen in a video being paraded naked and molested by a mob of men.Recently, a committee headed by former Chief Justice of the Jammu and Kashmir High Court, Justice Gita Mittal filed three reports in the top court on the Manipur crisis, which suggested the enhancement of compensation for victims of the violence.