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The bench found that evidence of some of the witnesses in the case relating to the death of the driver and the two BJP workers were overlapping with the case related to the death of four farmers. It raised doubts whether this was being done to benefit a \u201cparticular accused”.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n The Supreme Court bench headed by Chief Justice of India, N V Ramana once again expressed strong displeasure over \u201cintermixing\u201d of evidence by UP investigators probing the cross cases involving the massacre of farmers allegedly overrun by a convoy of three vehicles from behind, including one owned by Minister of State for Home Ajay Mishra. “The collection of evidence in the FIR related to the death of farmers has to be an ‘independent exercise,'” Justice Surya Kant supplemented.<\/p>\n The cross-case related to other deaths alleging mob lynching including of a driver and two BJP workers in the retaliatory aftermath that followed on October 3 in the Lakhimpur Kheri district of Uttar Pradesh is also being investigated by the same investigators relying on the same witnesses in both the cases.<\/p>\n Examining the status report of SIT probe, the bench found that evidence of some of the witnesses in the case relating to the death of the driver and the two BJP workers were overlapping with the case related to the death of four farmers. It raised doubts whether this was being done to benefit a \u201cparticular accused.\u201d<\/p>\n At the onset, the CJI told the senior counsel that there is \u201cnothing in the status report except saying some more witnesses examined\u201d and that the \u201clab reports (have) not come yet.\u201d Mr Salve said it is \u201cbeyond our control. They have said they will give by November 15.\u201d<\/p>\n The bench then questioned him on the seizure of phones of the accused and wondered why only the phone of key accused Ashish Mishra had been seized. \u201cWhat about the mobile phones of other accused,\u201d Justice Kohli queried.<\/p>\n \u201cSome of the accused have said they don\u2019t have a cell phone. But their call data records have all been obtained,\u201d Salve replied.<\/p>\n Justice Kohli then asked if he was trying to say that none of the other accused had phones with them. Salve said they had thrown away their phones and claimed that they didn\u2019t have any, but the police obtained the CDRs. He said CCTV visuals of the incident were awaiting certification.<\/p>\n Senior Advocate Arun Bharadwaj, appearing for Ruby Devi, wife of slain BJP worker Shyam Sunder, expressed lack of confidence in the probe and urged that his case be handed over to CBI. Mr Salve said the man \u201ccame out (of the vehicle). Farmers hit him. Police tried to protect him. Police were trying to save these people who were thrashed by the farmers.\u201d<\/p>\n The bench told Bharadwaj, \u201cCBI is not the solution of everything\u201d and he can submit his evidence before the judge proposed to be appointed to monitor the probe.<\/p>\n In this backdrop of the matter, the apex court by and large made up its mind that let former judge of another High Court monitor the probe observing that it is \u201cnot confident\u201d and does not want Uttar Pradesh to continue with the judicial commission it appointed to probe the October 3 incidents in Lakhimpur Kheri. The bench proposed the appointment of a retired judge from \u201ca different High Court\u201d to monitor investigations till the chargesheets are filed. It asked Uttar Pradesh government to respond to its suggestion by 12th November.<\/p>\n \u201cWhat appears to us is that this SIT (Special Investigation Team), somehow or the other, is unable to maintain an investigative distance between the two cases,\u201d he said. \u201cIf this kind of process continues, it will be a case of weighing the oral evidence in one case against the other. To ensure that evidences are recorded independently and there is no overlapping and there is no intermixing of the evidence, we are trying to appoint a retired judge from a different High Court to monitor the investigation on a day-to-day basis. We are not confident. We don\u2019t want the judicial commission appointed by your state to continue,\u201d remarked Justice Surya Kant, one of the three judges on the bench.<\/p>\n The bench, also comprising Justice Hima Kohli who suggested the names of Justice Ranjit Singh and Justice Rakesh Kumar Jain, retired judges of the Punjab and Haryana High Court, said \u201clet a former judge monitor everything till the chargesheets are prepared and filed.\u201d \u201cIt appears that one particular accused is seeking to be given benefit by overlapping the two FIRs,\u201d Justice Surya Kant observed without taking names.<\/p>\n Arguing for the UP government, Senior Advocate Harish Salve said he will take instructions on the suggestion. \u201cThat will be done, my lord. I can take instructions. Government can appoint,\u201d Salve told the bench. Maintaining that the two investigations are separate, Salve said the mix-up may have happened because some of the witnesses who had come forward to give statements in the case of death of the driver and BJP workers were also making statements about the case involving the death of the farmers. He said when witnesses come forward saying they want their testimony to be recorded, police cannot say no.<\/p>\n Salve pointed out that the confusion may have occurred also because it was initially suspected that the journalist had died in the violence that followed the crash, but it later emerged that he too was allegedly crushed by the vehicles. \u201cTherefore, the investigation into his death,\u201d Salve said, \u201chad moved to the FIR registered in connection with the death of the farmers.\u201d<\/p>\n But, the unmoved bench stuck to its view and reiterated that\u2019s why it wanted an independent judge to monitor till the filing of the chargesheet. Justice Surya Kant said the cause of death of the journalist was \u201centirely different but impression sought to be given was this journalist was beaten to death.\u201d \u201cThey were all crushed by the car,\u201d Salve replied, adding \u201cthe trouble is\u201d there were thousands of people at the scene, and there are political overtones for whatever is happening.<\/p>\n \u201cWe don\u2019t want to have any political overtones,\u201d the CJI said, justifying the bench suggestion for a retired High Court judge to monitor the probe. \u201cFind out from your government,\u201d he told Salve.<\/p>\n On October 3, a convoy of three vehicles, including one owned by Union Minister of State for Home Ajay Mishra, ploughed into a group of protesting farmers. In the violence that followed, two BJP workers and the driver of one of the vehicles were killed. A journalist was also among those killed. In the two cases, UP police arrested 17 persons, including the minister\u2019s son Ashish Mishra.<\/p>\n Uttar Pradesh had appointed one-man judicial commission to probe the October 3 incidents headed by a retired judge of the Allahabad High Court, Justice Pradeep Kumar Srivastava, but the apex court rebuked the idea and preferred scraping it.<\/p>\n Responding to the excerpts of the Supreme Court observations, the Sanyukt Kisan Morcha (SKM), a consortium of farmer unions issued a statement saying that their allegations regarding firing by Minister Ajay Mishra Teni\u2019s son and his aide was substantiated in forensic examination proving the complicity of his son in mowing down innocent farmers. Even apex court raised its doubts the way investigations are carried out to benefit a \u201cparticular accused.\u201d Looking into the sensitivity and gravity of the high-profile matter, our demand to arrest the union minister and apex court-monitored investigation to ensure free and fair probe and justice to the farmers\u2019 families, is fully justified, the communique added.<\/p>\n After the apex Court directed the Uttar Pradesh government to grant protection to the witnesses of Lakhimpur Kheri in which eight people, including four farmers and a journalist were killed, UP Police has provided security cover to 71 witnesses who turned up to record their statements as well as the families of the deceased. While 23 witnesses had come forward between October 8 and October 26, a total of 48 people showed up after the apex court granted \u00a0protection.<\/p>\n \u201cOverall, 71 people have recorded their statements in both the FIRs but most of the witnesses are related to the first FIR that was registered by the farmers,\u201d said prosecuting officer S.P. Yadav. A cross-FIR had also been lodged against the farmers by one of the accused after violence broke out in Tikunia on October 3. \u201cPolice have provided security to all the witnesses as per the directions of the apex Court and we are expecting more witnesses to turn up now,\u201d said Yadav. The witnesses have been provided an armed constable each for protection. Extra security cover has been provided to those who were witness to the accused running away from the spot while firing in the air.<\/p>\n Till now, 13 people, including Union minister of state Ajay Mishra Teni\u2019s son Ashish, have been arrested for allegedly mowing down farmers while two farmers were also held for alleged lynching of the BJP workers.<\/p>\n Minister\u2019s son Ashish Mishra was seen roaming freely in the district hospital of Lakhimpur Kheri in viral video clip where he was sent from the jail for treatment of Dengue fever as his police remand was cut short due to his sudden ailment in custody and jail authorities allowed his treatment outside the jail. His hospitalisation was cut short soon after video clip attracted adverse reactions in social media.<\/p>\n Forensic report confirms shots fired from Ashish\u2019s weapon<\/strong><\/p>\n After Supreme Court\u2019s stringent remarks over the conduct of Special Investigation Team (SIT) allegedly to benefit a \u201cparticular accused\u201d in collecting and recording \u201cintermixing\u201d evidences by the investigators in the Lakhimpur Kheri carnage case, a forensic lab report received by SIT also confirmed that shots were fired from the firearms recovered from Ashish Mishra, son of Union minister Ajay Mishra, Latif alias Kaale, and Satya Narayan Tripathi, all the three are main accused of carnage that took place in Lakhimpur Kheri on October 3. A rifle, a revolver, and a repeater gun were recovered from the accused in the days that followed the incident. Arms were sent for forensic testing on October 15 which confirmed in its ballistic report that indeed bullets were shot from Ashish’s rifle.<\/p>\n The farmers\u2019 unions have collectively demanded arrest and dismissal of union minister of state (Homes) to ensure fair investigations and speedy justice in the matter whose stand stood vindicated in forensic examination justifying their demand. Four farmers and a local journalist were mowed down by speeding cavalcade headed by his son Ashish Mishra Monu, his friends and henchmen on October 3,2021.<\/p>\n The SIT confirmed before the court that journalist Raman Kashyap was crushed to death by the cavalcade and not lynched by farmers, as falsely reported by one accused BJP leader Sumit Jaiswal (who filed an FIR against the farmers absconding thereafter). The local police did not register FIR of journalist\u2019s brother who named union minister Ajay Mishra Teni, his son Ashish Monu and 12 others for conspiracy and murder. Soon after SIT admission before the court Raman\u2019s brother Pawan moved an application under section 156 (3) of the CrPC in the chief judicial magistrate’s court to register an FIR against Ajay Mishra\u2019s son Ashish, and 12 others.<\/p>\n Pawan said, \u201cThe SIT investigation has clearly mentioned the names of those responsible for my brother’s death. We want an FIR to be registered against all of them. We had earlier filed a complaint with the SHO and SP, Lakhimpur, but our FIR was not registered. The next date of hearing is November 15.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The bench found that evidence of some of the witnesses in the case relating to the death of the driver and the two BJP workers were overlapping with the case related to the death of four farmers. It raised doubts whether this was being done to benefit a \u201cparticular accused”. The Supreme Court bench headed […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":40,"featured_media":334635,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[23,36,14759,2205],"tags":[14761,14762,14763,5750,14760],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/tehelka.com\/rest-api\/wp\/v2\/posts\/334634"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/tehelka.com\/rest-api\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/tehelka.com\/rest-api\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tehelka.com\/rest-api\/wp\/v2\/users\/40"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tehelka.com\/rest-api\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=334634"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/tehelka.com\/rest-api\/wp\/v2\/posts\/334634\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":334637,"href":"https:\/\/tehelka.com\/rest-api\/wp\/v2\/posts\/334634\/revisions\/334637"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tehelka.com\/rest-api\/wp\/v2\/media\/334635"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/tehelka.com\/rest-api\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=334634"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tehelka.com\/rest-api\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=334634"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tehelka.com\/rest-api\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=334634"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"\"](\"http:\/\/tehelka.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/Mudit-2-Ashish-mishra.jpg\")
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