Supreme Court suspends Naga militant’s sentence in triple-murder case and orders him to remain in Delhi

India’s Supreme Court has suspended the sentence of Hopeson Nignshen, a self-styled NSCN “lieutenant” convicted in the abduction and killing of three Manipur government officials. The court ordered him to remain within Delhi and barred him from leaving until his appeal is disposed of.

A bench of Justices M M Sundresh and P B Varale noted that Nignshen had spent more than 17 years in jail. “We are dealing with a case where the appellant has been incarcerated for more than 17 years and therefore, he is relying only on the ground of suspension of sentence, particularly when his appeal is pending,” the bench said.

The Manipur government opposed the plea. The Delhi High Court upheld Nignshen’s conviction and life sentence in 2019, after a trial court found him guilty in 2014 of abducting Dr Thingnam Kishan Singh and two others and killing them after conspiring with other NSCN-Isak Muivah militants. He was also convicted of looting the victims’ belongings and fined ₹35,000.

The case moved from Manipur to Delhi in 2010 after the Supreme Court was told that Nignshen faced a threat to his life and that presenting him in a Manipur court could trigger unrest. The CBI said militants abducted Kishan Singh and five staff members in Ukhrul district on February 13, 2009. Three people were later released, while Kishan Singh, Y Token Singh and A Rajen Sharma were killed. Their bodies were recovered near the Taphao Kuki river, and the killings heightened ethnic tension between Meiteis and Nagas and prompted a series of shutdowns in Manipur.

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We are dealing with a case where the appellant has been incarcerated for more than 17 years and therefore, he is relying only on the ground of suspension of sentence, particularly when his appeal is pending.