KOHUR slams Manipur Govt over NSA detention, calls it ‘executive subversion’ of court order

The Kuki Organization for Human Rights Trust issued a strongly worded condemnation, accusing the Government of Manipur of using the National Security Act to “nullify” a constitutional court order and carry out what it termed “political persecution” of Kuki-Zo community leaders.

In a detailed statement, KOHUR expressed “profound outrage and constitutional alarm” over the detention of Philip Khaikholal Khongsai, former president of the Moreh Youth Club, and Hemkholal Mate, Chief (Haosa) of K. Molsang village, under the NSA, 1980.

The organisation alleged that the detention was “transparently designed” to override a bail order granted by the Gauhati High Court and to perpetuate “indefinite incarceration” of Kuki-Zo leaders.

JUDICIAL VERDICT CITED

KOHUR said that on March 25, 2026, a Division Bench of the Gauhati High Court, comprising Justice Pranjal Das and Justice Arun Dev Choudhury, granted bail to Mate and Khongsai in criminal appeal cases.

According to the statement, the court found that the fundamental rights of both individuals under Article 22(1) of the Constitution had been violated at the time of their arrest on January 29, 2024, as they were not informed of the grounds of arrest.

It further noted that no notice under Section 50/50A of the Code of Criminal Procedure was furnished, arrest memos lacked signatures, and no contemporaneous records demonstrated that grounds of arrest had been communicated.

The High Court, KOHUR said, relied on Supreme Court precedents to hold that violations of Articles 21 and 22 rendered the arrest “fatally infirm” and the continued detention unconstitutional, adding that the right to bail prevails even over statutory restrictions under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act.

Quoting Justice Choudhury’s concurring opinion, the statement said procedural safeguards are “integral to the guarantee of personal liberty” and their dilution transforms arrest into “an assertion of authority.”

EXECUTIVE CONTEMPT OF CONSTITUTION

KOHUR alleged that the state government’s response amounted to “constitutional sabotage”.

It said that on April 4, 2026, the Deputy Commissioner and District Magistrate of Tengnoupal issued a preventive detention order against Mate under Section 3(2) of the NSA—just 10 days after the High Court’s bail order.

“The detention order explicitly acknowledges the High Court’s bail order and then uses that very bail as justification for preventive detention,” the statement said, calling it evidence of “mala fide intent”.

“This is not governance. This is not law enforcement. This is the executive arm of the state deliberately deploying a draconian colonial-era statute to neutralise a constitutional court’s order restoring a citizen’s liberty,” it said.

KOHUR described both detainees as “respected community leaders” from Moreh, a border town heavily affected by the ethnic violence that has gripped Manipur since May 2023.

PATTERN OF PERSECUTION ALLEGED

Placing the incident in a broader context, KOHUR alleged a “pattern of persecution” against the Kuki-Zo community since the outbreak of ethnic violence on May 3, 2023.

It cited “selective FIRs, disproportionate security operations in Kuki-Zo areas, denial of protection to civilians, and weaponisation of preventive detention laws” against community leaders seeking constitutional remedies.

The organisation further claimed that the NSA detention order represented “an act of intimidation directed not merely at one individual but at the entire Kuki-Zo community”.

DEMANDS

KOHUR put forward a set of demands, including:

1). Immediate revocation of the NSA detention order dated April 4, 2026, against Hemkholal Mate.

2). Immediate release of both detainees in compliance with the High Court’s March 25 judgment.

3). An independent judicial inquiry into the conduct of the Tengnoupal District Magistrate and concerned officials.

4?. Intervention by the National Human Rights Commission and the Supreme Court of India.

5). Intervention by the Government of India and the Ministry of Home Affairs to prevent misuse of Union laws.

JUSTICE SABOTAGED IS TYRANNY

In its concluding remarks, KOHUR reaffirmed that Kuki-Zo people are citizens entitled to full constitutional protection and asserted that “no ethnic conflict, political calculation, or administrative convenience” can justify imprisoning individuals whom the judiciary has ordered to be freed.

Calling upon constitutional institutions, civil society, media, and the international human rights community to take cognisance, the organisation said, “Justice delayed is justice denied. Justice sabotaged is tyranny.”