The Supreme Court expressed its displeasure with the Uttar Pradesh Police investigation into the October 3 Lakhimpur Kheri violence, which claimed the lives of eight people, four of whom were farmers protesters allegedly mowed down by vehicles in the convoy of Ashish Mishra, the son of Union Minister and BJP MP Ajay Kumar Mishra.
The probe is "not proceeding the way we expected," according to a bench that includes Chief Justice of India NV Ramana, Justice Surya Kant, and Justice Hima Kohli.
The bench was dissatisfied that the forensic lab reports on the video evidence had not yet arrived, and that all of the accused's cellphones had not been taken.
The bench was also concerned that by combining the inquiry with the counter-case of mob lynching, the case against the principal accused in the case involving attacks on farmers would be diminished.
The bench stated that the investigations in both instances must be conducted separately, and that witness testimonies in both cases must be recorded separately.
The bench stated that it intends to assign a retired judge from another state's High Court to oversee the probe to guarantee that the evidence in both cases does not overlap.
The bench orally emphasised the necessity to integrate fairness and impartiality into the probe.
Senior Advocate Harish Salve, representing the state of Uttar Pradesh, requested more time to seek instructions from the state government on the bench's recommendations. As a result, the bench postponed the hearing until November 12th.
"The status report has been seen. The status report contains no information. We granted a 10-day adjournment after the last hearing date. The lab reports have yet to arrive. It's not turning out the way we planned "NV Ramana, the Chief Justice of India, stated from the beginning.
According to Senior Advocate Harish Salve, the lab reports would be ready by November 15, representing the state, Uttar Pradesh "How about the other problems?" CJI inquired.
"The phone of just one of the defendants has been confiscated. What about the rest of us? Have you not taken the opportunity? Is it true that just one of the defendants had a cellphone? "Justice Hima Kohli posed the question.
Salve responded that while some of the defendants claimed they didn't have phones, the CDRs had been retrieved. According to Salve, the suspects have thrown away their phones, but their positions have been established thanks to their CDRs.
Justice Kohli said, "Where have you mentioned in the status report that the defendants have thrown away their phones and their CDRs have been traced?"
"The journalist was slain; he was first supposed to be with Ashish Mishra, but it was later discovered that he, along with the farmers, were crushed by the automobile," Salve stated.
The court noted that the death of journalist Raman Kashyap was caused by a car mowing him down, not by lynching, as had been assumed at the time.