The Union Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) has constituted a tribunal under Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA) to adjudicate the November 13 ban on Meitei extremist groups in Manipur.

The tribunal comprising Justice Sanjay Kumar Medhi from Gauhati High Court will adjudicate whether there was sufficient cause for declaring the Manipur Meitei extremist groups as ‘unlawful associations’.

These are – Peoples’ Liberation Army (PLA), and its political wing, the Revolutionary Peoples’ Front (RPF), the United National Liberation Front (UNLF) and its armed wing, the Manipur Peoples’ Army (MPA), the Peoples’ Revolutionary Party of Kangleipak (PREPAK) and its armed wing, the “Red Army”, the Kangleipak Communist Party (KCP) and its armed wing, also called the “Red Army”, the Kanglei Yaol Kanba Lup (KYKL), the Coordination Committee (CorCom) and the Alliance for Socialist Unity Kangleipak (ASUK) along with all their factions, wings and front organisations.

“MHA has constituted the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Tribunal consisting of Justice Sanjay Kumar Medhi, Judge of the Gauhati high court, for the purpose of adjudicating whether or not there is sufficient cause for declaring the Meitei Extremist Organizations of Manipur”, a notification issued by it on Tuesday said.

Earlier on November 13, the MHA declared several Meitei extremist organisations, which mostly operate in Manipur, as unlawful associations under the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA) for a period of five years. According to a notification issued by the Home Ministry, the groups have been banned for “engaging in activities prejudicial to the sovereignty and integrity of India”.