PIL In Supreme Court Seeks SIT Probe Into 'Involvement' Of Union Minister Ajay Mishra, UP Dy CM Keshav Maurya In Lakhimpur Violence Case
Ex-BSF jawan, Tej Bahadur Yadav has moved the Supreme Court with a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) plea seeking probe into the involvement of Union Minister Ajay Mishra 'Teni' and Deputy Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh Keshav Prasad Maurya in the Lakhimpur Violence Case.The plea drawn by Advocate Pradeep Kumar Yadav and filled through Sanjeev Malhotra AOR seeks direction to the SIT formed by...
Ex-BSF jawan, Tej Bahadur Yadav has moved the Supreme Court with a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) plea seeking probe into the involvement of Union Minister Ajay Mishra 'Teni' and Deputy Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh Keshav Prasad Maurya in the Lakhimpur Violence Case.
The plea drawn by Advocate Pradeep Kumar Yadav and filled through Sanjeev Malhotra AOR seeks direction to the SIT formed by the Supreme Court to implicate Union Minister 'Teni' and UP's Dy. CM Maurya as accused in the case.
The petitioner has sought the implication of the Minister of State (MoS) for Home Ajay Mishra as accused in the case by averring that he had threatened the victims (a few days before the incident) by saying this:
"You are also a farmer. Why didn't the movement spread here? These are 10-15 people. If I got down from the car, they would not have got a way to escape. 10-15 people working behind the back make noise here. In this way, if the agricultural laws were bad, then the movement should have spread throughout the country. Why didn't it spread? I want to tell such people to get better. Otherwise, we will correct you. It will take two minutes only..."
Further, referring to Section 149 of IPC (Every member of unlawful assembly guilty of offence committed in prosecution of common object), the plea avers that Mishra was found involved in killing farmers and journalists in the violence in a pre-planned manner, therefore, SIT should implicate Mishra in the case.
"MoS Teni had sent his son for the execution of his plan in which he succeeded, therefore, he should also be held for the same offence under which his son and other accused persons are in judicial custody," the plea states.
Recently, the Special Investigation Team of the Uttar Pradesh police that is probing the Lakhimpur Kheri violence incident had said before the Lakhimpur local Court that there was a planned conspiracy to kill the people present during the incident.
Further, the SIT has prayed before the Court to modify the charges against the accused, including the son of Union Minister of State Ajay Misra 'Teni', Ashish Misra.
"It appears from the probe that has been conducted and material collected till now that the said act wasn't a negligent act committed by the accused, rather, it was done intentionally as per premeditated plan to kill...", the application filed by the SIT avers.
It may be noted that on October 3, several farmers were holding protests against the visit of Uttar Pradesh Deputy Chief Minister Keshav Prasad Maurya to Lakhimpur Kheri district, when four protesting farmers were killed after they were mowed down by an SUV.
Allegedly, the SUV was the part of the convoy of Union Minister of State for Home Affairs and BJP MP Ajay Kumar Mishra
Thereafter, the police had filed a first information report against Ashish Mishra (son of minister Ajay Kumar Mishra) and several others in connection with the violence under Section 302 IPC.
An alleged video of the incident had also surfaced in social media showing a group of protesters moving forward on a road next to farm fields and then being mowed down by a grey SUV that speeds up from behind.
The Uttar Pradesh government had earlier announced that a retired High Court judge will probe the Lakhimpur Kheri violence and also, 45 lakh compensation would be given to the families of the four farmers killed in the incident.
However, the Supreme Court last month appointed Justice Rakesh Kumar Jain, former judge of the Punjab and Haryana High Court, to monitor the investigation in the Lakhmipur Kheri violence.
A bench headed by the Chief Justice of India NV Ramana, was hearing a PIL registered on the basis of a letter petition sent by two lawyers seeking impartial probe into the Lakhimpur Kheri violence of October 3.
The Uttar Pradesh Government recently told the Allahabad High Court that the statements of a large of eyewitnesses in the Lakhimpur Kheri incident are yet to be recorded and therefore, it sought a further two weeks' time to file its reply on the bail plea filed by Ashish Mishra, the main accused in the case.
The petitioner in the PIL plea before the Supreme Court is Ex- BSF Jawan, Tej Bahadur Yadav, who had unsuccessfully challenged the election of Prime Minister Narendra Modi from the Varanasi constituency in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections before the Supreme Court.