New Delhi : The Uttar Pradesh Government had to face tough questions coming from the Supreme Court on farmers protest incident at Lakhimpur and was told sternly to “dispel the feeling that you are dragging your feet”.
Ordering the UP government to protect and record the statement of all witnesses, the Supreme Court said “this should not be an unending story”. SC had asked the government for the status report on who all have been arrested and for what crime.
“We waited till 1 AM last night that we will get material,” Chief Justice of India NV Ramana told senior lawyer Harish Salve, who is representing the UP government.
Union Minister Ajay Mishra’s son Ashish Mishra is accused of running over farmers during a protest on October 3. Ashish Mishra was arrested on October 11, three days after the Supreme Court expressed dissatisfaction with the Uttar Pradesh government’s action.
Mr Salve said the report had been submitted in a sealed cover yesterday.
“How can we read it if it gets filed last minute? At least file it a day before,” the Chief Justice said.
The judges also asked why more witnesses had not been questioned by the UP government.
“You have examined 44 witnesses so far out of 164. Why not more?” —- asked Chief Justice Ramana.
“The process is still going on. And all key accused have been arrested,” Mr Salve replied.
When the Supreme Court asked how many had been arrested, he said: “Arrests were made for two crimes – one for mowing down the farmers and the other for the lynching of those connected to the car. In the first case 10 have been arrested.”
As an independent media platform, we do not take advertisements from governments and corporate houses. It is you, our readers, who have supported us on our journey to do honest and unbiased journalism. Please contribute, so that we can continue to do the same in future.
