Lakhimpur violence case: Supreme Court adjourns hearing to Nov 15 at UP govt request

The Supreme Court of India on Friday adjourned the hearing of a case relating to the Lakhimpur Kheri violence incident in which eight people were killed, including four farmers. The hearing has been postponed to November 15 at the request of senior advocate Harish Salve, who represented the Uttar Pradesh government and sought time from the court.

The Supreme Court has sought the stand of the state government on the appointment of a former judge to monitor the state SIT probe on a regular basis.

Earlier on November 8, the Apex court expressed disappointment with the ongoing SIT probe in the violence incident due to delay in the collection of evidence in the case. On the same day, a former High Court judge was also appointed to monitor the ongoing investigation in the Lakhimpur Kheri violence case.

As a part of it, a single-member Commission of Enquiry with headquarters at Lakhimpur Kheri was constituted with retired Allahabad High Court judge Pradeep Kumar Srivastava on it. He has also been directed to ensure the completion of the investigation within a period of two months. 

The last hearing of the case, which was held on October 26, saw several questions raised to the state government on the lack of witnesses in the court, while hundreds of farmers were present at the rally. Apart from that, the bench also sought a status report from the state government on the death of the four farmers along with a journalist.

Lakhimpur Kheri incident

On October 3, several farmers were protesting against the central government's farm laws while they were run over by an SUV, resulting in the death of 8 people including four farmers, a journalist, and many others.

The incident sparked severe criticism against the Uttar Pradesh government as several local farmers accused MoS Home Affairs Ajay Kumar Mishra and his son Ashish Mishra of involvement in the case. Farmers allegedly said that Ashish Mishra was inside the vehicle that ran over the farmers. 

A total of 12 people have been arrested so far in the case, including Ashish Mishra. 

(With agency inputs, Image: ANI/PTI)