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NEW DELHI: Conceding a key demand of the Ladakh Apex Body (LAB) and Kargil Democratic Alliance (KDA), the home ministry on Friday ordered a judicial inquiry into the “serious law and order” situation created in Leh town on Sept 24, 2025, which resulted in police action that claimed four lives.The judicial inquiry will be conducted by former Supreme Court judge B S Chauhan, the ministry of home affairs (MHA) said in a notification issued on Friday. He will be assisted by retired district and sessions judge Mohan Singh Parihar, who will serve as judicial secretary, and former IAS officer Tushar Anand who shall be the administrative secretary.
The notification on the “impartial” judicial probe — which came on the eve of a planned silent march and blackout by the two outfits in Ladakh — could brighten the prospects of early resumption of talks with the two Ladakh outfits through the high-powered committee set up by the Central govt. However, despite the MHA having conceded LAB and KDA’s central demand to have a retired SC judge look into the Sept 24 events, their leaders had not called off their protests until the time of going to the press.Before the Sept 24 violence broke out, LAB and KDA had reached an agreement on reviving the HPC parleys after a gap of four months and were scheduled to meet home ministry representatives on Oct 6. In fact, some MHA officials were in Leh at the time of the violence, preparing the ground for the parleys in New Delhi. The violence, coinciding with the protest fast by activist Sonam Wangchuk to press for statehood and Sixth Schedule status, and the death of four individuals in police firing, however, upset these plans. LAB and KDA decided to put off a meeting with the Central govt until their demand for a probe led by a retired SC judge into the Sept 24 violence was conceded.The Govt had on Sept 29 stated that it has always been open for dialogue on Ladakh matters with LAB and KDA at any time and on any platform. In fact, the dialogue mechanism has already yielded some good results, in the form of 85% reservation to Scheduled Tribes of Ladakh, 33% quota for women in Ladakh Autonomous Hill Development Council (LAHDC) and protection to local languages, it added.