New Delhi: The Supreme Court bench on Thursday led by Chief Justice of India N V Ramana asked the Uttar Pradesh government to file a detailed status report on Lakhimpur Kheri violence by Friday. The government on its part informed the court that the initial commission for an inquiry has been constituted by a retired judge of high court.
A three-judge bench comprising CJI Ramana and Justices Surya Kant and Hima Kohli wanted a detailed report from the UP government on events that lead to this mayhem. Justice Surya Kant said, "There are other people who have died...we need to know who are the accused persons against whom you have registered FIRs and if you have them arrested or not."
On October 3, eight people lost their lives in Lakhimpur Kheri violence.
At the start of the hearing, the apex court clarified that it did not take up the Lakhimpur violence case suo motu as a plea was registered by two lawyers — Shiv Kumar Tripathi and C S Panda. "Two advocates wrote a letter to the court on Tuesday, we directed our Registry to register the letter as PIL but due to miscommunication, they registered it as a suo motu matter. Matter to be heard later today," CJI N V Ramana said.
The Lakhimpur Kheri violence took a serious political turn with various political parties demanding a judicial probe.
On Thursday, Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav has said Union Minister of State for Home Ajay Misra's son has not yet been arrested in the Lakhimpur Kheri violence case even though evidence pointed to his role in the incident. Yadav, who is visiting Lakhimpur to meet the aggrieved families, told reporters, "As fingers are raised towards MoS (Ajay Misra) in the BJP government, the accused in Lakhimpur case are not yet sent to jail."
