The Judicial Inquiry Commission probing the September 24 violence in Leh extended its deadline for recording statements and submitting evidence by ten days after the Leh Apex Body requested more time for people who still wished to testify.
The three-member panel, headed by former Supreme Court judge B. S. Chauhan and constituted by the Home Ministry on October 17, was asked to establish the circumstances that triggered the law and order collapse, review police action and assess the events that led to four civilian deaths, including a 1999 Kargil war veteran.
Ninety people were injured when security forces clashed with protesters demanding statehood and Sixth Schedule status for Ladakh.
Mohan Singh Parihar, the commission’s judicial secretary, said the plea dated November 27 was placed before Justice Chauhan “who considered the matter virtually,” prompting the extension beyond the original November 28 deadline.
"The original deadline for filing statements was set to expire on November 28. The plea was placed before Justice Dr B S Chauhan, former Judge of the Supreme Court of India and head of the Judicial Inquiry Commission, who considered the matter virtually", Parihar, also a retired district and sessions judge, said in his order.
Justice Chauhan accepted the request and granted an extension until December 8, enabling more individuals acquainted with the incident to record their statements, the order said.
The LAB is an amalgam of social, political and religious groups in Ladakh spearheading an ongoing movement for constitutional safeguards for the region, demanding statehood for Ladakh and inclusion under the Sixth Schedule of the Constitution.