The Supreme Court on Monday suspended the life sentence of former self-styled lieutenant colonel of the NSCN-IM, Hopeson Ningshen, who was 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 Ningshen’s sentence and directed him to remain within Delhi and not leave the national capital until the disposal of his appeal.

The Manipur government opposed Ningshen’s plea, citing the sensitivity of the case. The Centre, however, submitted that if the court decided to suspend the sentence, appropriate safeguards could be imposed.

The bench observed that it had considered the sensitivity of the matter on several occasions. However, it said the present case involved an appellant who had remained incarcerated for more than 17 years while his appeal against the conviction was still pending before the apex court.

Ningshen was convicted in connection with the abduction and murder of Kasom Khullen SDO Thingnam Kishan Singh and his two subordinate officials, Yumnam Token and Aribam Rajen, in 2009.

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The case was transferred from Manipur to Delhi by the Supreme Court in 2010 following concerns raised by the Central Bureau of Investigation (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 subsequently upheld both his conviction and sentence in November 2019.

Ningshen then challenged the High Court verdict before the Supreme Court, where his appeal has remained pending.

While suspending the sentence, the apex court imposed the condition that Ningshen remain in Delhi and not leave the national capital during the pendency of his appeal.