Lakhimpur Kheri deaths case: Supreme Court asks UP govt to file a status report

The BJP-led Uttar Pradesh government told the Supreme Court that an SIT has been constituted and a single-member enquiry commission has been constituted, to also file a status report.

New Delhi: In the Lakhimpur Kheri deaths case, the Supreme Court on Thursday (October 7) asked the Uttar Pradesh government to file a status report on who are the accused, against whom FIR is registered and those arrested. The top court began hearing in the case, wherein eight people were killed in the Lakhimpur Kheri district on October 3.

The state government tells Supreme Court that an SIT has been constituted and a single-member enquiry commission has been constituted, to also file a status report.

The apex court also said that it would like to hear the two lawyers who wrote a letter seeking a high-level judicial inquiry, also involving the CBI, into the Lakhimpur Kheri incident in which eight people were killed in violence during a farmers' protest.

A bench headed by Chief Justice N V Ramana said that the letter was to be registered as a PIL and due to some "miscommunication" it was listed as the suo motu (on its own) case.

"Does not matter, we will hear it nonetheless," said the bench, also comprising justices Surya Kant and Hima Kohli. The bench asked the court officials to intimate the two lawyers - Shiv Kumar Tripathi and CS Panda -to appear and passed over the case.

"This letter is addressed by two lawyers. We directed the Registry to register this as a PIL but due to some miscommunication, it was listed as a suo motu.. . Inform both the lawyers who wrote the letter to be present," the CJI said.

Notably, the Lakhimpur Kheri incident has triggered a major political storm with opposition parties accusing the BJP-led UP government of shielding the culprits.

Meanwhile, Laxmi Singh, IG Lucknow Range, told ANI that the district-level committee will investigate the matter and submit the chargesheet in court, adding that the judicial investigation commission will conduct an inquiry of the whole incident. "Based on evidence, we'll soon arrest all accused involved in this incident," the IG said. 

An FIR under section 302 of IPC (murder) has been registered against the Union Minister of State for Home Ajay Mishra's son Ashish Mishra and others in the incident in Tikonia police station but no arrest has been made so far.

Farmer leaders have claimed that Ashish was in one of the cars that allegedly knocked down the protesters but the minister has denied the allegations. 

On October 3, four farmers were mowed down by an SUV in Lakhinpur Kheri when a group agitating against the Centre's three new farm laws was holding a demonstration against the visit of UP Deputy Chief Minister Keshav Prasad Maurya. 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.

The Uttar Pradesh government, meanwhile, has constituted a one-member commission of retired High Court judge Pradeep Kumar Srivastava to probe the Lakhimpur Kheri violence that claimed eight lives during a farmers' protest rally.

(With Agency Inputs)