Can consider appointing retired SC judge to monitor Lakhimpur Kheri probe: SC
Darpan News Desk IANS, 15 Nov, 2021 12:14 PM
New Delhi, Nov 15 (IANS) The Supreme Court on Monday said it will also consider the names of some retired apex court judges to monitor day-to-day investigation in the Lakhimpur Kheri violence incident. The top court also directed the Uttar Pradesh government to upgrade its task force investigating the matter with some high-ranking officials.
Senior advocate Harish Salve, representing the Uttar Pradesh government, submitted that the top court can appoint a retired judge to monitor the SIT probe.
A bench headed by Chief Justice N.V. Ramana and also comprising Justices Surya Kant and Hima Kohli said, "Now, we have a lot of freedom for a retired SC or HC judge. Let us see..."
The bench noted that it will find out a judge who is willing to take up the assignment.
During the hearing, the top court emphasized that the Uttar Pradesh government should upgrade the task force investigating the matter. It said the officers must be high-ranking officers, currently there are local Lakhimpur Kheri, sub-inspector level and DSP level officers on the task force.
The bench told Salve that it needs one more day's time to finalise the name of the judge. "We are considering Rakesh Kumar Jain (former Punjab and Haryana HC judge) or others. We have to consult them," said the bench.
Salve submitted, "Judge can be appointed from any other state".
Earlier, the top court had said it wanted to appoint a judge outside of Uttar Pradesh.
Concluding the hearing, the top court asked the Uttar Pradesh government to look into grievances of the victim's families, who have not been paid compensation. Additional Advocate General Garima Prasad submitted that the state would take necessary steps.
The violence occurred on October 3, resulting in the killing of eight persons, including four farmers who were allegedly mowed down by the vehicles in the convoy of Ashish Misra, the son of Union Minister and BJP MP Ajay Kumar Misra.
The heightened levels of tensions are seen as unheard in recent times. A violent clash between the two countries on 15 June, left 20 dead on the Indian side and unknown number of Chinese casualties.
The largest democracy in the world with 1.4 billion people has been recording the world's biggest daily increases in coronavirus cases for almost a month.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi was among the first to share his condolences via Twitter, saying he was lucky to have Pranab Mukherjee's guidance since he took office.
On Friday according to the Special Investigation Team (SIT) Ex Director General of Police Sumedh Singh Saini has further dug himself a hole in Section 302 of the IPC in the case of disappearance of a former CITCO employee, Balwant Singh Multani.
