IMPHAL, Dec 17: The Union Home Ministry has extended the tenure of the Commission of Inquiry probing the 2023 ethnic violence in Manipur, granting it time till May 20, 2026, to submit its final report, according to an official notification issued on Tuesday.
The three-member panel, headed by former Gauhati High Court Chief Justice Ajai Lamba, was constituted on June 4, 2023, in the aftermath of the violence that erupted on May 3 that year, leaving at least 260 people dead and displacing thousands. The commission also includes retired IAS officer Himanshu Shekhar Das and retired IPS officer Aloka Prabhakar.
As per the notification, the commission has been directed to submit its findings to the Central government “as soon as possible but not later than May 20, 2026.” This is the fourth extension granted to the panel, following earlier deadline extensions on September 13, 2024, December 3, 2024, and May 20, 2025.
Initially, the commission was mandated to submit its report within six months of its first sitting. Its terms of reference include examining the causes and sequence of events leading to the violence, identifying lapses or dereliction of duty by authorities or individuals, and assessing the adequacy of administrative measures taken to prevent and respond to the unrest.
The Home Ministry has said the commission will also consider complaints and allegations submitted by individuals and organisations during the course of the inquiry, as it continues its examination of one of the most serious episodes of ethnic violence in the state’s recent history.
