The Wire Staff 
New Delhi: The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) has extended the deadline for the three-member judicial commission probing the ongoing ethnic violence in Manipur to submit its report.
In a gazette notification issued on Wednesday (December 4), the MHA extended the deadline for the submission to May 20, 2025 from the earlier deadline of November 20 this year, reported The Indian Express.
“In exercise of the powers conferred by section 3 of the Commissions of Inquiry Act, 1952 (60 of 1952), the Central Government hereby makes the following amendment in the notification of the Government of India in the Ministry of Home Affairs number S.O. 2424 (E), dated June 4, 2023… The Commission shall submit its report to the Central Government as soon as possible but not later than May 20, 2025,” said the notification.
Originally, the MHA had asked the commission to submit the report within six months from the first date of its full sitting – November 20, 2023.
The MHA had appointed retired Chief Justice of Gauhati high court Ajai Lama as the chairman of the judicial commission which also has retired IAS officers Himanshu Shekhar and Aloka Prabhakar.
The commission is supposed to investigate a series of events, including the reasons and extent of violence and riots targeting different communities, that started in Manipur on May 3, 2023, and is still continuing.
The commission is also investigating whether there were any lapses or dereliction of duty on the part of the state administration.
The violence in the state has resulted in the killing of hundreds, displacing tens of thousands and has sharply divided the state along ethnic lines.