NEW DELHI: The Union Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) has issued a fresh notification giving another extension till May 20, 2026, to a Commission of Inquiry (CoI) to submit its report on the probe into the 2023 Manipur violence that claimed over 250 lives, officials said on Wednesday.
The three-member panel, headed by former Chief Justice of the Gauhati High Court Ajai Lamba, was formed on June 4, 2023, in the aftermath of the outbreak of ethnic violence on May 3, 2023, in the state. The other two members of the commission included retired IAS officer Himanshu Shekhar Das and retired IPS officer Aloka Prabhakar.
According to the notification accessed by the TNIE, the MHA said, the commission “will now submit its report to the Central government as soon as possible but not later than the 20th May, 2026”.
The CoI was mandated to probe the causes and spread of the violence and riots targeting members of different communities. It was supposed to submit its report to the Central government “as soon as possible but not later than six months from the date of its first sitting”, the MHA had said in its first notification.
Since then, the panel’s deadline has been extended four times, on September 13, 2024, December 3, 2024, May 20, 2025 and now December 16. In the last extension, the Union Home Ministry had given the commission time till November 20, 2025, to submit its report.
According to the terms of reference of the commission, it would probe the sequence of events leading to the violence, lapses or dereliction of duty in this regard on the part of any of the responsible authorities and individuals and adequacy of the administrative measures taken to prevent, and to deal with the violence and riots.
The commission shall look into the complaints or allegations that may be made before it by any individual or association, the Ministry had said.
According to the MHA’s June 4, 2023, notification, large-scale violence broke out in Manipur on May 3, 2023, which claimed the lives of many residents of the state besides injuring several others. People’s houses and properties were burnt down as a result of the arson, rendering many of them homeless, it had said.
The notification said the Manipur government on May 29, 2023, recommended the constitution of a judicial commission to look into the causes and associated factors of the crisis, and the unfortunate incidents and afterwards under the provisions of the Commissions of Inquiry Act, 1952.
Based on the recommendation, the Centre had appointed a commission for the purpose of making an inquiry into the violence.
The violence in Manipur was triggered after Kuki-Zo tribals living in the hill districts protested over a high court recommendation for granting Scheduled Tribe (ST) status to the Meitei community members.
Manipur is currently under President’s rule, which was imposed on February 13, 2025, after the then-Chief Minister N Biren Singh had resigned on February 9.