The Supreme Court on Friday extended till July 17 the interim protection from arrest to a woman lawyer in connection with a reported FIR lodged by Manipur police against the members of a fact-finding team that had declared that the ethnic clashes in the state were the result of “State-sponsored” violence.

Advocate Deeksha Dwivedi was part of the three-member fact-finding team that also included office-bearers of the CPI’s National Federation of Indian Women (NFIW) Annie Raja and Nisha Sidhu.

The FIR was lodged under various IPC sections, including waging war against the country.

A bench of Chief Justice D.Y. Chandrachud, Justice P.S. Narasimha and Justice Manoj Misra had on July 11 granted interim protection to Dwivedi. On Friday, the bench extended the protection as solicitor-general Tushar Mehta, appearing for the state of Manipur and the Centre, was not present.