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Bhima Koregaon Commission gets extension till August 31
The commission to date has recorded evidence from 50 witnesses and has directed the lawyers representing various witnesses to submit their final argument in writing before the commission
The state home department on Friday granted an extension to the two-member Bhima Koregaon commission till August 31.
VV Palnitkar, commission secretary, said, “The extension has been granted till August 31 and the commission will be preparing its reports based on the submission of final written arguments for lawyers.”
The last extension ended on February 31 after which the state government issued the extension notification.
The commission to date has recorded evidence from 50 witnesses and has directed the lawyers representing various witnesses to submit their final argument in writing before the commission.
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 which was the fourteenth such extension granted since the commission was constituted in February 2018.
State government section officer Rajaram Shirke in an order on October 9 directed the commission to complete its work and submit the final report to the government by February 28, 2024.
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. Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi (VBA) chief Prakash Ambedkar on February 12 walked out of the witness box announcing that he quit the cross-examination and alleged that an attempt was being made to divert the inquiry by the government lawyers.
“The commission has no powers. Now, there was an attempt through the lawyer from the government side to divert the inquiry. That is why I quit,” he said.
The two-member committee visited the Vijay Stambh memorial Vadhu Budruk village and other places during its official visits.
The Bhima Koregaon Commission had announced the suspension of its functioning due to lack of space on October 31, 2020, following which the state home department informed the panel that one room would be made available in Mumbai to conduct the hearings.
The commission has six terms of reference including identifying the causes of the January 1, 2018 riots that took place in Pune, identifying responsible groups, determining whether police and administration were prepared enough, and recommending short- and long-term measures.
The commission was initially given four months to submit its report, but its tenure has been extended repeatedly giving it time to complete its investigation into the exact sequence of events leading to the clashes.
