Lakhimpur violence probe: Owaisi slams PM for not sacking Ajay Mishra; draws UP polls link

After the UP SIT concluded that the Lakhimpur violence was a pre-planned conspiracy, Asaduddin Owaisi lambasted PM Modi for not sacking Union MoS Home Ajay Mishra. The latter's son Ashish Mishra is one of the 13 accused persons who have been arrested in connection with this case and are currently in judicial custody. On Tuesday, the Chief Judicial Magistrate in Lakhimpur Kheri conceded to the prosecution's request adding Sections 307 (attempt to murder) and 326(voluntarily causing grievous hurt by dangerous weapons or means) and sections of the Arms Act to the FIR while dropping Sections 279, 304A and 338.

The police clearly affirmed that the violence was not due to negligence or accident. Speaking to the media regarding this, the AIMIM supremo justified the demand for the Union MoS Home's ouster as the latter had tried to provide alibis for his son. However, he reckoned that the PM would not take action against Mishra owing to BJP's desire to secure votes of a certain community in the upcoming UP polls. 

AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi remarked, "If the Supreme Court didn't take up this murder suo moto, the Yogi government would have saved the Minister and his son. Now that it has been found that the 5 persons were killed with full planning, we demand that the PM should immediately sack the Minister from his Cabinet. Action should be taken against him as the car is owned by the Minister."

"It is your car, your son is accused and you didn't know? You are lying that your son wasn't there. The PM should immediately remove this Minister from his Cabinet on the grounds of morality and collective responsibility. He won't do so as he is from an upper caste community and he wants their votes in the UP polls," the Hyderabad MP added. 

Lakhimpur Kheri violence

Violence broke out in Uttar Pradesh's Lakhimpur Kheri district on 3 October leading to the death of 8 persons including 4 farmers.  Immediately after the horrific incident, UP CM Yogi Adityanath promised that the state government will expose the elements involved in the incident and take strict action against them. Apart from an SIT, the Uttar Pradesh government constituted a single-member Commission of Inquiry of Justice (retd.) Pradeep Kumar Srivastava to probe the Lakhimpur violence. Moreover, the police formed a 9-member monitoring committee led by DIG (Headquarters) Upendra Agrawal in connection with this case.

On 17 November, an SC bench comprising CJI NV Ramana, Justices Surya Kant and Hima Kohli appointed retired Punjab and Haryana High Court judge Rakesh Kumar Jain to monitor the investigation into the Lakhimpur violence. The apex court observed that this will help ensure "transparency, fairness and absolute impartiality" in the investigation. It also reconstituted the SIT formed by the Yogi Adityanath-led government by including three IPS officers- SB Shirodkar, Deepinder Singh and Padmaja Chauhan in the panel.