The Supreme Court has said it is “not satisfied with action taken by Uttar Pradesh government so far” while doing a suo-motu hearing on the Lakhimpur Kheri violence which left 8 people dead and sparking off a political slug fest .
A bench headed by Chief Justice N V Ramana told senior advocate Harish Salve, representing the UP government, to communicate to the top most police official that evidence and other relevant materials in the case are not destroyed.
‘What is the message you (state) are sending,’ said the bench, also comprising Justices Surya Kant and Hima Kohli.
The Supreme Court notes that senior advocate Harish Salve appearing for Uttar Pradesh government has assured it that the highest police officer in the state will be informed to preserve the evidence in the case.
Salve says the post mortem report did not show gun shot injury. “They have found two cartridges, maybe the accused had a bad aim,” Salve said.
CJI asked Salve if this is ground for not taking custody of the accused. Supreme Court says Uttar Pradesh government to apprise the court of an alternative agency which can conduct the probe.
The court says it is a brutal murder of eight persons and the law must take its course against all accused. Court further says that it hopes that the UP government will take necessary steps due to the sensitivity of the issue.
Supreme Court says that a CBI probe is also not a solution and the reason is known.
Meanwhile , After the Uttar Pradesh government filed status report in the case, the apex court said, “The highest police officer must protect the evidence in the case. Why wasn’t the accused arrested immediately? Why are they not treated like any other citizen? The local police has not done the job properly.” The court posted the matter for hearing immediately after vacation i.e. October 20 at 10:30 am.
Lakhimpur’s incident is unfortunate & investigation is underway on it. Guilty will not be spared. We want to ensure people of the state that at no cost culprits will be spared & no post or pressure will be of use for accused, : Uttar Pradesh Deputy CM Keshav Prasad Maurya was quoted as saying by ANI
