Lakhimpur Kheri Case : Supreme Court Adjourns Hearing Till Nov 15 At UP Govt Request

The Supreme Court on Friday adjourned the hearing of the PIL seeking proper investigation of the Lakhimpur Kheri violence of October 3, which resulted in the killing of 8 persons, including 4 farmers who were allegedly mowed down by the vehicles in the convoy of Ashish Mishra, the son of Union Minister and BJP MP Ajay Kumar Mishra.

A bench comprising the Chief Justice of India NV Ramana, Justice Surya Kant and Justice Hima Kohli adjourned the matter at a request made by Senior Advocate Harish Salve, who is appearing for the State of Uttar Pradesh.

"Would your Lordships give me time till Monday? I've almost got it done. We're working something out", Salve requested as the case was taken.

The bench agreed to the request and posted the matter to November 15, Monday.

On last occasion, November 8th, the Supreme Court had said that it was proposing to appoint a retired judge from a High Court of another state to monitor the investigation

Senior Advocate Harish Salve, appearing for the State of Uttar Pradesh, had sought for time to get instructions from the State Government on the suggestions made by the bench

The Bench had expressed dissatisfaction with the Uttar Pradesh Police probe. It was also dissatisfied with the fact that the forensic lab reports regarding the video evidence have not yet come and that the mobile phones of all accused have not been seized.

The bench had expressed concerns about the case against the prime accused in the case relating to attack on farmers being diluted by clubbing the investigation with the counter-case of mob lynching.

On an earlier occasion , October 26th, Supreme Court had directed the State of UP to ensure that the statements of relevant witnesses are recorded by the Judicial Magistrate under Section 164 of the Code of Criminal Procedure and witnesses are provided protection.

The Bench had also asked the investigation team to try to identify more eyewitnesses. The directions were issued after perusing the second status report filed by the State of UP regarding the the investigation.

On October 20, Supreme Court had observed that it was getting the impression that the UP Police was "dragging its feet" in its investigation. The bench had made this remark after noting that the statements of only 4 out of the 44 witnesses were recorded under Section 164 of the Code of Criminal Procedure.

Background:

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 Lakhmipur Kheri violence of October 3.

The incident had claimed the lives of 8 people, four of them being farmers protesters who were allegedly mowed down by the vehicles in the convoy of Ashish Mishra, the son of Union Minister and BJP MP Ajay Kumar Mishra.

The Court's action followed the emergence of shocking videos in the social media showing vehicles in the convoy of Ashish Mishra driving into the protesting farmers.

Case : In Re Violence In Lakhimpur Kheri(UP) Leading To Loss Of Life| WP(Crl) No.426/2021

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