New Delhi: Justice Ajay Lamba, former chief justice of the Gauhati High Court, who was heading the judicial commission set up to inquire into incidents of violence that erupted in Manipur in May 2023, resigned from his position Thursday, three months before the commission was due to submit its report. The central government has appointed former Supreme Court judge Justice Balbir Singh Chauhan in Lamba’s place.
Besides the chairman, the commission has two members—retired IAS officer Himanshu Sekhar Das and retired IPS officer Aloka Prabhakar. Both will continue in their position.
It was not clear till the time of publication of this report why Justice Lamba resigned.
The Commission of Inquiry was set up following a four-day visit of Union Home Minister Amit Shah to Manipur on 29 May, 2023 to take stock of the situation. Its mandate was to make inquiries about the causes and spread of the violence, which took place in the state, and whether there were any lapses on the part of authorities or individuals.
The violence erupted on the evening of 3 May, 2023 in Churachandpur, Moreh and the other hill districts following the Tribal Solidarity March organised by the Kuki-Zo community to oppose the demand for inclusion of Meiteis in the Scheduled Tribes (ST) category.
The violence has claimed more than 250 lives and displaced over 60,000 people across communities.
The Commission of Inquiry had to submit its report within six months from the date of its first sitting. But the deadline has been extended thrice. Despite holding several rounds of hearings of those affected by the violence, both at the commission’s head office in Imphal and the camp office in New Delhi, the inquiry could not be completed on time.
The new deadline for submitting the report is 20 May, 2026.
Justice Lamba’s resignation also comes close on the heels of the appointment of a new government in Manipur headed by BJP MLA and former state minister Yumnam Khemchand Singh, a Meitei, as chief minister.
(Edited by Amrtansh Arora)
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