‘You’re dragging your feet’: SC raps UP govt on Lakhimpur probe

TIL Desk/National/New Delhi/ “We think you are dragging your feet. You please dispel this,” the Supreme Court on Wednesday told the Uttar Pradesh government while hearing the Lakhimpur Kheri matter, and asked it to record statements of remaining witnesses in the case before a judicial magistrate.

The apex court, which was hearing a matter pertaining to the October 3 violence in Lakhimpur Kheri in which eight persons including four farmers were killed during a farmers’ protest, was told by the state government that statements of four out of the 44 witnesses have been recorded by the judicial magistrate.

A bench headed by Chief Justice N V Ramana perused the status report filed by the state government in the matter in a sealed cover. The bench, also comprising Justices Surya Kant and Hima Kohli, was told by the state that the process of recording of statements of witnesses before judicial magistrate is going on. The top court has posted the matter for hearing on October 26.

10 people, including Union Minister of State for Home Ajay Mishra’s son Ashish Mishra, have been arrested so far in connection with the case. The top court is hearing the matter after two lawyers had written a letter to the CJI seeking a high-level judicial inquiry, also involving the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), into the incident.