The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) on Friday ordered a probe into the September 24 violence in Leh by retired Supreme Court judge BS Chauhan to find out the circumstances leading to the serious law and order situation, police action and the resulting death of four persons. According to an official statement, on September 24, a serious law and order situation had arisen in Leh town, resulting in police action leading to the death of four individuals. What did Govt notification say? “The Ministry of Home Affairs, Government of India, hereby notifies a judicial inquiry to be conducted by Hon’ble Dr Justice BS Chauhan, former Judge of the Supreme Court of India, into the circumstances leading to the serious law and order situation, the police action and the resultant unfortunate death of the four individuals,” the government statement said. According to an official statement, on September 24, a serious law and order situation had arisen in Leh town, resulting in police action leading to the death of four individuals. Clashes between security forces and protesters demanding Ladakh’s statehood and Sixth Schedule status left four people dead and 90 injured on September 24. Two days later, the police arrested climate activist Sonam Wangchuk under the National Security Act (NSA) for allegedly inciting the violence and shifted him to Jodhpur jail. Govt invites KDA for talks The political and religious bodies leading the agitation in Ladakh had been demanding a judicial probe into the police action. It was one of the conditions for resumption of talks with the Union government. According to a notification issued by the MHA, Justice Chauhan will be assisted by retired District & Sessions Judge Mohan Singh Parihar as Judicial Secretary and IAS officer Tushar Anand as Administrative Secretary. The government said that it was always open for dialogue to address the grievances of residents in Ladakh. “We would continue to welcome the discussion with Apex Body Leh (ABL) and Kargil Democratic Alliance (KDA) through the High Powered Committee on Ladakh or any such platform. We are confident that continuous dialogue would yield the desired results in near future. The Government stands committed to the aspiration of people of Ladakh,” the MHA said in the press note. Who is Justice BS Chauhan (Retd)? Justice Chauhan was a judge of the top court between 2009 and 2014. He had earlier been the Chief Justice of Orissa High Court and prior to that a judge of Allahabad and Rajasthan High Courts. After retiring from the Supreme Court, he served as the chairperson of the Law Commission from 2016 to 2018. He later also headed the inquiry commission that cleared the Uttar Pradesh Police of wrongdoing in the alleged encounter killing of gangster Vikas Dubey. What happened on September 24? Violence broke out in Leh on September 24 as protesters set fire to the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) office and a CRPF van in the capital of Ladakh during a protest demanding statehood for Ladakh and inclusion of the Union Territory under the Sixth Schedule of the Constitution. At least four people were killed and over 70 were injured during the violence, and a curfew was imposed in Leh, the largest town and administrative center of Ladakh. Police arrested climate activist Sonam Wangchuk on September 26, two days after clashes. The Union government blamed Wangchuk for “misleading the people through provocative mention of Arab Spring-style protest and references to Gen Z protests in Nepal”. He was detained under the National Security Act (NSA) for allegedly inciting the violence and shifted to Jodhpur jail. However, the Apex Body Leh denied activist Sonam Wangchuk’s role in the violence in Leh during his ongoing hunger strike. It criticized people for labeling their protest as anti-national on social media and refuted the “narrative” which accused Sonam Wangchuk of instigating violence. Wangchuk, a leading voice of the Leh Apex Body (LAB) and the Kargil Democratic Alliance (KDA), has been spearheading a five-year-long agitation demanding statehood and constitutional safeguards for the residents of Leh and Kargil. The Ministry of Home Affairs, Government of India, hereby notifies a judicial inquiry to be conducted by Hon’ble Dr Justice BS Chauhan into the circumstances leading to the serious law and order situation. The restrictions in the Leh district of Ladakh were lifted on Wednesday, 22 days after being imposed following violence during the statehood protests that led to the death of four people. The district administration had imposed prohibitory orders in Leh on September 24 under Section 163 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS), banning the assembly of five or more persons. (With agency input)
-
-
-
-
