Ex-HC judge Rakesh Kumar Jain to monitor Lakhimpur violence case probe

The court said it would hear the case after the charge sheet was filed and a report was received from the retired judge

The Supreme Court on Wednesday appointed Justice Rakesh Kumar Jain, a former judge of Punjab and Haryana High Court, to monitor the October 3 Lakhimpur Kheri violence probe and to ensure "transparency, fairness and absolute impartiality in the investigation".

A bench presided over by Chief Justice N V Ramana also ordered the Uttar Pradesh government to include three senior IPS officers, S B Shirodkar, Deepinder Singh and Padmaja Chauhan, saying it "predominantly comprises of middle level/sub¬ordinate level police officers posted in district Lakhimpur Kheri".

"In spite of their perceived commitment and sincerity in carrying out the investigation, there may still be a lurking suspicion in respect of the fairness and independence of such an investigation," the bench added.

Read | Lakhimpur violence to harm BJP in Uttar Pradesh Assembly polls

The court said that it would hear the case after the charge sheet was filed and a report was received from the retired judge.

It also directed the SIT to make all efforts to conclude the investigation expeditiously and file the charge¬sheet.

The CJI pronounced the order in the matter arising out of a letter written by advocate Shiv Kumar Tripathi and another.

In its written order, the bench said, "We deem it appropriate to re-constitute the SIT hereinafter to preserve the faith and trust of people in the criminal administration of the justice system. Further, to assure full and complete justice to the victims of crime, we are inclined to order that the ongoing investigation be monitored by a retired High Court Judge, who too may not have his roots in the State of Uttar Pradesh."

With regard to the issue of compensation, senior advocate Harish Salve, appearing for the Uttar Pradesh government, said there was a problem as to whether it should be provided to those accused of lynching of the accused.

The court had on November 15 said it would consider names of some retired apex court judge or high court judge to monitor day-to-day investigation in the Lakhimpur Kheri violence incident.

On November 8, the court had slammed the Uttar Pradesh police over its handling of the probe into the case and proposed to appoint a former judge from the Punjab and Haryana High Court to monitor the ongoing investigation.

The court had then criticised the mixing of witnesses in separate FIRs lodged with regard to October 3 incident, saying it appeared the evidence was being collected in the case to protect one particular accused, in an indirect reference to prime accused Ashish Mishra, son of Union Minister Ajay Mishra, already arrested in the case.

As many as eight people, including four farmers, were killed, when a car allegedly ferrying the Union Minister's son ran over a group of protesters, gathered to oppose a programme attended by Uttar Pradesh's Deputy Chief Minister Keshav Prasad Maurya in Lakhimpur Kheri.

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