SC notice to UP govt over 'SIT probe into mob lynching'

The Supreme Court on Monday sought a response from the Uttar Pradesh government on a plea for a SIT probe comprising police officers from another state into the alleged mob lynching of Qasim by cow vigilantes on June 18, 2018, in Hapur district.

A bench of Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi and Justice Sanjeev Khanna issued a notice to the state government on a petition filed by victim's son Mehtab.

The court ordered for tagging the writ petition along with a pending matter after hearing petitioner's counsel Vrinda Grover.

The petitioner sought a realisation of his right to justice guaranteed under Article 21 of the Constitution including the right to “fair, honest, impartial investigation and independent and effective prosecution, into the barbaric mob lynching of his father, Qasim and as well as to secure the right to compensation”.

He claimed his father was “brutally thrashed to death by a dastardly mob” in agricultural fields in Hapur district. Since Qasim's murder, the entire family of seven is dependent on the petitioner, he said.

The petitioner sought a direction for an investigation into the incident by the setting of a special investigation team comprising officers from outside the state. He also sought a direction to cancel the bail granted to the accused.

The petitioner claimed his uncles were coerced by the police to give a “false and concocted” statement that the death of Qasim occurred due to “road rage”. Though his uncles have retracted their statements, no effort was made to record their version before the judicial magistrate as directed by the top court in the judgement delivered on a petition by Tehseen Poonawalla, he contended.