Lakhimpur case: SC pulls up UP police for delaying action on witness threat complaint

THe sublime margaret court on th questioned the Uttar Pradesh constabulary for delaying litigate on a complaint on the pretext that the witness was unwilling to visit the police station to file a complaint in the Lakhimpur Kheri violence case.The court said that probing allegations of a witness being influenced in the Lakhimpur Kheri violence case trial is “imperative”.“This may not be a satisfactory explanation on behalf of the police/prosecution,” said a bench headed by justice Surya Kant, observing that when a complainant is unwilling to come forward, a senior police official should have visited the witness and verified the contents of his written complaint.The complaint assumes significance as Ashish Mishra, son of former Union minister Ajay Mishra, is one of the accused in the case who is currently out on bail since 2023. Mishra is accused of mowing down four farmers at Lakhimpur on October 3, 2021 protesting against the now-scrapped farm laws.The witness Baljinder Singh had approached the top court in January this year alleging that a person had called and threatened him against deposing in the trial. Advocate Prashant Bhushan appearing for Singh informed the court on Tuesday that despite an order passed by the court on March 24 directing the police to investigate the complaint and file a status report, nothing had proceeded.The bench, also comprising justices Ujjal Bhuyan and N Kotiswar Singh said, “In case the complainant has been reluctant to come forward with the complaint, some senior police officer can approach him and find out whether he admits to have written the complaint. If the contents of the complaint are acknowledged, it is imperative for police to investigate. Then the necessary consequences must follow.”Also Read: Supreme Court brings orphans under RTE quota, asks government to count them in next censusAdditional advocate general (AAG) Garima Parshad appearing for UP government informed the court that pursuant to the March 24 order, the superintendent of police (SP) had contacted the witness to come to the police station and record his complaint. However, he has not come so far.Mishra represented by senior advocate Siddharth Dave vehemently opposed the allegations levelled by Bhushan claiming that the same is politically motivated. Dave said that bald allegations of influencing witnesses are being made without submitting any proof. He further stated that Singh has already been examined during the trial.Bhushan told the court that he had submitted the audio clip containing the conversation with Singh in a sealed cover to the court.The court said, “Let the senior police official examine it. We have already stated in our earlier order that if there is any substance in the complaint, let a status report be filed.”The bench directed the Lakhimpur SP to file a status report on Singh’s complaint. Further, on the aspect of trial, the court was informed that out of the total list of 208 witnesses, the prosecution had dropped 20 witnesses and of those remaining, 20 key witnesses have been examined so far.A total of eight people were killed in the Lakhimpur Kheri violence. Mishra was arrested within six days of the incident in October 2021. As per the police charge sheet, the killings were pre-planned asMishra arrived in a Mahindra Thar SUV along with a convoy of 3-4 vehicles at the site where the farmers were protesting. One journalist was also killed .Infuriated by this act, protesting farmers pulled out three occupants from the car and lynched them.A separate criminal case in this regard was registered by police and is pending trial. The four farmers accused in the case were granted regular bail in January 2023.