SC to hear pleas on Lakhimpur Kheri incident: will top court order independent probe?

The Supreme Court is scheduled to hear on Monday the matter related to the October 3 Lakhimpur Kheri incident in which eight people, including four farmers, were killed in violence during a farmers’ protest.

A bench comprising Chief Justice N V Ramana and justices Surya Kant and Hima Kohli would hear the matter in which the apex court had on October 26 directed the Uttar Pradesh government to provide protection to witnesses under the Witness Protection Scheme, 2018.

The top court had also asked the Uttar Pradesh government to record the statements of other witnesses before the judicial magistrate under section 164 of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC) and expedite the examination of digital evidence by experts.

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Statements under section 164 of the CrPC are recorded before a judicial magistrate and they have evidentiary value.

The bench had sought a status report from the state government on the alleged lynching of a journalist and one Shyam Sundar by the mob, after a vehicle mowed down four protesting farmers.

The top court is hearing the Lakhimpur Kheri matter after two lawyers had written to the CJI seeking a high-level judicial inquiry, also involving the CBI, into the incident.