SC relieves SIT in Lakhimpur Kheri violence case

The Supreme Court on Monday relieved the Special Investigation Team (SIT) in the Lakhimpur Kheri violence case, saying it has already completed its probe and submitted a charge sheet in the trial court.

The case pertains to the incident of violence on October 3, 2021, in which eight people, including four farmers, were killed in Lakhimpur Kheri district’s Tikunia.

Issuing the order on Monday, a bench of justices Surya Kant and Dipankar Datta also said that if there arises any necessity to reconstitute the SIT, an appropriate order shall be passed.

The apex court had appointed Justice Rakesh Kumar Jain, a former judge of the Punjab and Haryana High Court, to supervise on a day-to-day basis the Uttar Pradesh Police SIT’s probe into the case.

Three senior IPS officers, S B Shirodkar, Deepinder Singh and Padmaja Chauhan, were part of the SIT.

The top court on July 11 had extended till September 26 the interim bail of Union minister Ajay Kumar Mishra’s son Ashish Mishra, who is facing prosecution in the case.

The violence had erupted when farmers were protesting against Uttar Pradesh Deputy Chief Minister Keshav Prasad Maurya’s visit to the area.

Four farmers were moved down by an SUV. A driver and two BJP workers were then allegedly lynched by angry farmers. A journalist also died in the violence that triggered outrage among opposition parties and farmer groups agitating over the Centre’s now-repealed agri laws.