A bench headed by CJI NV Ramana along with Justices Surya Kant and Hima Kohli will hear the Lakhimpur violence case that took lives of 8 people. Shiv Kumar Tripathi and CS Panda, practising in the Supreme Court, had written a letter to CJI NV Ramana demanding CBI investigation.
The Supreme Court, on Wednesday took suo-motu cognisance of the violence and deaths that happened in Lakhimpur Kheri and listed the case for hearing in the next 24 hours. The case would be heard by the Bench led by Chief Justice of India NV Ramana and Justices Surya Kant and Hima Kohli.
Total of eight people died, in the violent incident that took place in Lakhimpur Kheri, including four protesting farmers who were mowed down by a vehicle driven by Ashish Kumar Mishra, son of Union Minister and BJP MP Ajay Kumar Mishra.
The matter has been registered as “In Re violence in Lakhimpur Kheri leading to loss of life,” as per the supplementary cause list of the Supreme Court.The bench is likely to seek a response from Uttar Pradesh Government as to why no action has been taken yet by the UP Police and why they have not yet arrested the people responsible for the violence.
Two lawyers from Uttar Pradesh, Shiv Kumar Tripathi and CS Panda, practising in the Supreme Court, had written a letter to CJI NV Ramana requesting an impartial probe into the Lakhimpur Kheri incident which took the lives of eight people, by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI). The lawyers, also sought an FIR in the matter as well as punishment to those who are responsible for the violence.
The Supreme Court rarely takes up issues in its own hands until and unless the issues are of seriousness that ignoring them would affect the public interests, basic rights and the conscience of the country.
However, an FIR has already been lodged by the UP Police against Ashish Kumar Mishra, son of Union Minister and BJP MP Ajay Kumar Mishra in connection with the violent incident that happened in Lakhimpur Kheri. The FIR has been filed under the sections 302 for murder, 304-A for causing death due to reckless driving, 147 for rioting, 338 for causing grievous hurt to any person by doing any act so rashly or negligently as to endanger human life, 120-B for criminal conspiracy and 279 for rash driving of Indian Penal Code (IPC).