We're working something out: Uttar Pradesh to Supreme Court on Lakhimpur violence case

Salve submitted there were a total 16 accused in the case, out of which three died and 13 have been arrested

The Uttar Pradesh government on Friday sought time from the Supreme Court to work out a suggestion for appointment of a retired High Court judge from outside to monitor the Lakhimpur Kheri case related to the mowing down of four farmers, a journalist and subsequent killings of three others.

A bench of Chief Justice N V Ramana and Justices Surya Kant and Hima Kohli allowed a plea made by senior advocate Harish Salve on behalf of the state government and put the matter for consideration on Monday.

Also read: Lakhimpur violence: Forensics report confirms shot fired from Ashish Mishra's gun

At the outset, Salve submitted, "We are working out something. Kindly post the matter on Monday."

On November 8, the court 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 suggested the names of Justices Ranjit Singh and Rakesh Kumar Jain, two retired judges of Punjab and Haryana High Court, to oversee the investigation in order to "infuse independence, fairness and impartiality" into it.

Also read: OPINION | A 'no confidence'in UP probe

It had expressed a lack of confidence in the Yogi government's decision to appoint retired Allahabad HC judge Justice Pradeep Kumar Srivastava as the head of the commission to probe the case.

The court had 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.

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