‘Imperative for police to investigate’: Supreme Court pulls up UP Police for not probing complaint of witness in Lakhimpur Kheri violence case

On Thursday, senior advocate Prashant Bhushan, appearing for the complainant in the case, told a bench of Justices Surya Kant, Ujjal Bhuyan and N Kotiswar Singh that though the complaint was given, no FIR was registered.

“He was given liberty to make (a) complaint with authorities… We made a complaint in writing on June 20, pointing out that he was called by a person and given (an) inducement of Rs 1 lakh…threatened that if he deposed, he will face dire consequences… Despite this, no FIR till date, Bhushan submitted.

He added that this was in violation of the judgement in the Lalita Kumari case, according to which an FIR has to be registered within a week of the complaint.

Appearing for the state of Uttar Pradesh, Senior Additional Advocate General Garima Prashad submitted that the superintendent of police (SP) had called the complainant, but he did not appear.

Justice Kant, however, said, “Where a complaint is received, which prima facie discloses a cognisable offence, and if you find that for reasons unknown to you, the complainant is not coming forward…what’s wrong if your police officer goes there and finds out?”

The state counsel agreed to do so and said, “We will do that.”

“In case the complainant has been reluctant in coming forward in support of his complaint, some senior police officer can be deputed to visit the complainant to verify if (a) complaint has been made by him. If such contents are acknowledged, it is imperative for (the) police to investigate. Necessary consequences must follow,” the bench said.

The court also asked the Lucknow SP to file an affidavit after verification of the complaint.

Bhushan said if the police found any truth in the complaint, the court must cancel the bail of Ashish Mishra, who is accused of mowing down farmers protesting against the now-scrapped farm laws at Lakhimpur on October 3, 2021.

Senior advocate Siddharth Dave, who appeared for Ashish Mishra, opposed this, saying the allegations were being made without any proof.

He pointed out that out of the 208 witnesses, the prosecution dropped 20 witnesses, and of those remaining, 20 key witnesses have been examined so far. Dave added that though the trial court is hearing the case thrice a month, “nobody turns up”.

Eight people killed in Lakhimpur violence

On the day of the violence, a convoy of vehicles, including one belonging to Ajay Mishra, allegedly ran over four protesting farmers in Lakhimpur Kheri. In the ensuing clash, two BJP workers, the driver of one of the vehicles, and a journalist were also killed.

Ashish Mishra was arrested within six days. The Allahabad High Court initially granted him bail in the case, but the Supreme Court set aside the high court order after the kin of some of the deceased approached it. The matter was remanded back to the high court, which, after rehearing, dismissed the bail plea.

Subsequently, the Supreme Court granted him interim bail in the case on January 25, 2023. This was extended from time to time and made absolute on July 22, 2024.