Lagatar24 Desk
New Delhi, Nov.17: The investigation into the violence in Lakhimpur, Uttar Pradesh on Oct.3, will be overseen by a former Punjab and Haryana High Court judge, the Supreme Court announced today.
Former high court judge Rakesh Kumar Jain has been appointed to oversee the ongoing investigation “to ensure the investigation’s impartiality and independence,” according to the Supreme Court.
Three IPS officers have been added to the Special Investigating Team (SIT) in the case, two days after the court ordered it needed to be “upgraded.”
The top court had objected on Monday to the fact that the majority of the policemen in the investigation team were from the Lakhimpur Kheri area.
“The concern is that you have to upgrade the task force that is probing the case. There need to be higher grade officers,” Chief Justice NV Ramana had said.
Justice Surya Kant agreed: “Most officials in the current SIT (Special Investigation Team) are from Lakhimpur only. You give us the names of IPS officers who are from the UP cadre but don’t belong to UP.”
On October 2, eight persons, including four farmers, were allegedly ran over in the UP area by Union Minister Ajay Mishra’s son Ashish, who was later arrested.
The government of Yogi Adityanath, which has faced widespread criticism over the matter, was also grilled by the Supreme Court.
The court had shown its displeasure by stating that the investigation was not progressing at the required rate. The state government has been questioned in earlier sessions about why there were “just 23 eyewitnesses” to the violence.
