The Supreme Court Wednesday took suo motu cognisance of the recent Lakhimpur Kheri violence, in which a total of eight people have died, four farmers and one journalist mowed down by a vehicle owned by Union Minister of State and BJP MP Ajay Kumar Mishra Teni.
A bench led by Chief Justice of India N V Ramana will hear the matter on October 7.
This comes a day after several Opposition leaders, including Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi and chief ministers of Punjab and Chhattisgarh, flocked to Lakhimpur Kheri to meet the families of farmers and journalist killed during the violence.
A letter was also written to the Chief Justice by two lawyers from the state. The letter had called for a CBI probe under the supervision of the Supreme Court.
In the FIR registered after facing the massive protests and outrages from Opposition and farm unions, Union minister’s son has been named as the FIR says that Asish Mishra was driving the car and then after the car overturned, he got out from the car and opened fire and then went into hiding.
Farmers’ organisations, opposition leaders are seeing the removal of Ajay Mishra Teni, the junior home minister, who on Wednesday came to Delhi to meet Union home minister Amit Shah.
Senior lawyer and Congress leader Kapil Sibal on Wednesday tweeted on how the apex court used to act at a time when there were no social media and implied that it is not doing the same when a video of a car crushing the protesting farmers is available on social media.
“Supreme Court. There was a time when there was no YouTube, no social media, the Supreme Court acted suo motu on the basis of news in the print media. It heard the voice of the voiceless. Today when our citizens are run over and killed. The Supreme Court is requested to act,” Kapil Sibal tweeted.
