New Delhi: Supreme Court on Monday expressed dejection for the pace at which the Uttar Pradesh police is probing the Lakhimpur violence case in which eight people were killed, including four farmers.
SC said that a judge of a different High Court will from now on be monitoring the proceedings till the chargesheet is filed. The top court listed the hearing again for Friday.
A bench comprising Chief Justice N V Ramana and Justices Surya Kant and Hima Kohli, which had on October 8 expressed dissatisfaction over the steps taken by the Uttar Pradesh government in the “murder” of eight persons, was hearing the matter.
The bench suggested the names of former judges of the Punjab and Haryana High Court, Justices Rakesh Kumar Jain or Ranjit Singh, for overseeing the probe till filing of the chargesheets, news agency PTI reported.
Ten people, including Union Minister of State for Home Ajay Mishra’s son Ashish Mishra, have been arrested so far in connection with the case. The top court is hearing the matter after two lawyers had written a letter to the CJI seeking a high-level judicial inquiry, also involving the CBI, into the incident.
Four farmers were mowed down by an SUV in Lakhimpur Kheri when a group agitating against the Centre’s three new farm laws was holding a demonstration against the visit of Uttar Pradesh Deputy Chief Minister Keshav Prasad Maurya on October 3. Two BJP workers and a driver were beaten to death allegedly by the angry protesters, while a local journalist was also killed in the violence.
While hearing the matter on October 8, the apex court had questioned the Uttar Pradesh government over the non-arrest of all the accused and had directed preservation of evidence. The bench had said, “The law must take its course against all accused and the government has to take all remedial steps in this regard to inspire confidence in the investigation of brutal murder of eight persons.”
The top court, on October 26, had asked the Uttar Pradesh government to provide security to the witnesses. The SC bench had also sought a status report on the probe into the killing of one Shyam Sundar, who was an occupant of one of the vehicles involved in the incident and Kashyap, allegedly killed in the violence that followed the vehicle hit.
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