SC registers suo motu case on Lakhimpur Kheri violence, to hear matter on Thursday

The Supreme Court has taken a suo motu cognisance of Lakhimpur Kheri violence which claimed lives of eight people, including four farmers on Sunday. A bench of Chief Justice N V Ramana and Justices Surya Kant and Hima Kohli would take up the matter on Thursday.

According to the Supreme Court website, the case 'In Re Violence in Lakhimpur Kheri (UP) leading to loss of lives' would come up for hearing before the bench led by the Chief Justice of India.

The incident has come under attack from the Opposition leaders as farmers' outfits have claimed that a car ferrying Union Minister of State for Home Ajay Mishra's son Ashish ran over a group of protesters gathered to oppose a programme attended by Uttar Pradesh's deputy Chief Minister. Farmers in Punjab, Haryana and Western UP have been protesting for the last one year demanding repeal of three farm laws.

Also Read | Lakhimpur Kheri killings give new lifeline to Opposition ahead of UP election

Several videos of the Sunday incident had emerged, creating furore across the country.

Reacting to the development, former Union minister and Congress MP Kapil Sibal tweeted, "This is the need of the hour. The courts in India are the temples of justice that can restore the faith of the voiceless who most often feel orphaned."

Earlier, two lawyers had written to the Chief Justice of India for CBI probe into the matter.

The letter, written by advocates Shiv Kumar Tripathi and C S Panda, said: “Having regard to the seriousness of the killing of the farmers at District Lakhimpur-Khiri in Uttar Pradesh, it is incumbent upon this court to intervene in the matter”.

The lawyers claimed of late, violence has become the political culture in the country. They said there is need to protect the rule of law in the "violence- ravaged" Uttar Pradesh.

The incident called for direction against the state government and the concerned bureaucrats along with the "law-breaking" police machinery under the administrative control of the ministry of home, so that the "cult of violence" comes to a grinding halt, they said.

Watch the latest DH Videos here:

(More to follow)