The Supreme Court Tuesday directed the Uttar Pradesh government to grant protection to the witnesses of Lakhimpur Kheri violence in which eight people including four farmers were killed during a farmers' protest.
A bench headed by Chief Justice N V Ramana asked the UP government, represented by senior advocates Harish Salve and Garima Prasad, to record the statements of other relevant witnesses before judicial magistrates under Section 164 of the CrPC.
We direct the District Judge concerned to entrust the task of recording of evidence under Section 164 of the CrPC to the nearest judicial magistrates available, said the bench which also comprised Justices Surya Kant and Hima Kohli.
Statements under Section 164 of the CrPC (Code of Criminal Procedure) are recorded before a judicial magistrate and they have evidentiary value.
The bench asked Salve to convey its concerns to forensic labs and experts on preparation of reports on electronic evidence of the incident and also directed the state government to file its report on two complaints including the one related to the lynching of a journalist.
The state is directed to file separate replies in the cases, the bench said and fixed the plea for further hearing on November 8.
During the hearing, the bench raised the question over the number of eyewitnesses made by the prosecution in the case and said, "The case is that thousands of farmers were going on and a rally was going on. Only 23 witnesses are eyewitnesses?"
Salve said that out of 68 witnesses, statements of 30 witnesses have been recorded under Section 164 of the CrPC and some more testimonies will be recorded.
"Of these 30 witnesses, 23 claim to be eyewitnesses. A lot of witnesses are formal witnesses of recovery and all", Salve said.
He also submitted several digital pieces of evidence that have been recovered and sent for examination by experts.
The Supreme Court had on October 20 had rapped the government, saying the court was getting the impression that the state police was dragging its feet, and also ordered the protection of witnesses.
The apex court was hearing a matter about the October 3 violence in Lakhimpur Kheri in which eight persons including four farmers were killed during a farmers' protest and over ten accused, including Union Minister of State for Home Ajay Mishra's son Ashish Mishra, have been arrested so far in the case.
The Supreme Court had on October 20 had rapped the government, saying the court was getting the impression that the state police was dragging its feet, and also ordered the protection of witnesses
In the previous hearing last week, the UP government was told sternly by the judges to "dispel the feeling that you are dragging your feet" on the case.
The judges had asked why more witnesses had not been questioned by the UP government. "You have recorded the statements of only four witnesses so far out of 44. Why not more?", Chief Justice Ramana had questioned.
The court had, even then, ordered the UP government to protect and record the statement of all witnesses and said: "This should not be an unending story".
Ashish Mishra is accused of running over four farmers during a protest on October 3.
More were killed in the violence that erupted afterwards. The Supreme Court, on the complaint of the families of BJP workers killed in the violence, asked the UP government for a separate report on the killing of four more persons, including a journalist.
Ashish Mishra was arrested on October 11, three days after the Supreme Court expressed dissatisfaction with the Uttar Pradesh government's progress in the case.
The Supreme Court had asked the Yogi Adityanath government to list in a status report how many have been arrested over the killing of eight persons and on what charges. In the last hearing, the court was upset about the report being filed "last-minute".
Both Ashish Mishra and his father have denied all charges. Mishra had told NDTV that the car belonged to his family but neither he nor his son was in it when the incident took place.
