Okay with retired judge supervising SIT probe in Lakhimpur Kheri incident: UP tells SC

New Delhi, Nov 15: The Uttar Pradesh government has said that the Supreme Court can appoint a retired High Court judge to supervise the probe into the Lakhimpur Kheri incident.

The Supreme Court had suggested the names of former Punjab and Haryana High Court judges, Justices Ranjit Singh and Rakesh K Jain. The retired judges would oversee the SIT probes into the October 3 incident in which 4 farmers were mowed down and 3 accused were lynched.

Last week the court gave the UP government time till Monday to carry out its suggestion to appoint either former Punjab and Haryana High Court judge Ranjit Singh or Rakesh Kumar Jain to supervise the SIT probe.

The court expressed disappointment over the status report filed by the Uttar Pradesh government on the Lakhimpur Kheri incident, and suggested that a former high court judge monitor the ongoing probe.

A bench comprising Chief Justice of India N.V. Ramana, Justice Surya Kant and Justice Hima Kohli said the investigation is "not going the way we wanted". The bench suggested the names of former judges of the Punjab and Haryana High Court, Justices Rakesh Kumar Jain or Ranjit Singh, for overseeing the probe till charge-sheets are filed. It also took note of the delay in procuring the forensic reports regarding the video evidence.

Earlier, the bench had directed the UP government to provide protection to witnesses under the Witness Protection Scheme, 2018 and to record the statements of other witnesses before the judicial magistrate under section 164 of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC) and expedite the examination of digital evidence by experts.