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Bhima Koregaon commission gets 14th extension
The commission has almost finished its hearings in the case with only the last few testimonies of a few witnesses remaining to be completed, said officials
The state government has extended the term of the Bhima Koregaon inquiry commission till February 28, 2024, after its existing term ended on September 30. It is the fourteenth such extension granted since the commission was constituted in February 2018.
The commission has almost finished its hearings in the case with only the last few testimonies of a few witnesses remaining to be completed, said officials.
State government section officer Rajaram Shirke in his latest order on October 9 has directed the commission to complete its work and submit the final report to the government by February 28 next year.
According to the commission, five more witness statements are to be recorded prominent among them are the then Pune rural police superintendent Mohammad Suvez Haque, Pune police commissioner Rashmi Shukla and Mumbai police commissioner Parambir Singh.
The order further mentioned, “The commission had requested the government to extend the term for yet another six months citing a recording of witness statements of some persons which was incomplete. The government was considering the extension proposal since it received a written communication in this regard. The state government has extended the term till February 28, 2024.
Commission secretary VV Palnitkar when contacted confirmed that the commission has been granted another extension of the term.
“We have summoned five witnesses and if at all something turns out during the course of hearing, some more witnesses which will not be more than one or two in number,” he said.
Meanwhile, the commission has announced the schedule of hearings between October 16 and 28 where the cross-examinations of remaining witnesses will be completed.
The two-member commission was instituted by the government on February 9, 2018, under the then chief minister Devendra Fadnavis to probe into the nature and sequence of events which led to clashes between the right-wing members and Dalits on January 1, 2018, on the occasion of the bicentennial celebrations of the battle of Koregaon Bhima. The commission was initially given four months to complete its work, and it was subsequently granted extensions.
