New Delhi [India], September 7 : The Supreme Court on Monday suspended the life sentence of former self-styled lieutenant colonel of NSCN-IM, Hopeson Ningshen, convicted for the 2009 abduction and murder of three government officials in Manipur, citing his incarceration of more than 17 years.
A bench of Justices MM Sundresh and PB Varale granted conditional suspension of his sentence and directed that Ningshen remain within Delhi and not leave the national capital till the disposal of his appeal.
The Manipur government opposed the plea, citing the sensitivity of the case, while the Centre said that if the court decided to suspend the sentence, adequate safeguards could be imposed.
The bench noted that it had considered the sensitivity of the matter on several occasions but was now dealing with a case where the appellant had remained incarcerated for over 17 years and his appeal was still pending.
Ningshen was convicted for the abduction and murder of Kasom Khullen SDO Thingnam Kishan Singh and his two subordinate officials, Yumnam Token and Aribam Rajen. The cases were transferred from Manipur to Delhi in 2010 by the Supreme Court amid concerns by the CBI over communal tensions and the possibility of a physical attack on Ningshen.
A Special CBI Court convicted Ningshen in 2014 and sentenced him to life imprisonment. The Delhi High Court upheld his conviction and sentence in November 2019.
His appeal against the High Court verdict is pending before the Supreme Court.