Supreme Court should directly supervise probe in Lakhimpur Kheri incident, urges Samyukt Kisan Morcha

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The farmer' unions under the aegis of Samyukt Kisan Morcha on Friday said that the investigation in the Lakhimpur Kheri incident should be directly supervised by Supreme Court for justice to be secured.

"Samyukt Kisan Morcha demands again that the Lakhimpur Kheri farmers massacre investigation should be directly supervised by the Supreme Court for justice to be secured," an official statement by the SKM said.

Samyukt Kisan Morcha, in its statement, further alleged that the Uttar Pradesh government is "affecting investigation by transferring key officials of the probe thereby making the probe getting prolonged with a slow progress".

SKM hoped that the Supreme Court will also look into these transfers and question the state government as to why are they are being undertaken. "Meanwhile, reports continue to come in regarding the VIP treatment being received by accused Ashish Mishra. SKM once again demands the entire investigation to be supervised directly by the Supreme Court for justice to be secured in this matter."

Union Minister of State, Ajay Mishra's son, Ashish Mishra has been accused of carrying out the incident. Since Wednesday, Delhi Police has been putting in special efforts of removal of barricades at Delhi borders.

"It is well known that the police had behaved as though the protestors are enemies of India and the greatest threat to the safety of the country. Police had fortified the morcha sites by placing huge cement boulders, multiple layers of metal barricades, placement of sand trucks across the roads and also had fixed multiple layers of nails on the road. In the latest narrative that they are seeking to spin, partial removal of these barricades is being taken up, ostensibly to impress the Supreme Court of India," said SKM.

SKM leaders said that the stand of the protesting farmers stands 'vindicated'. "It is the police who have barricaded and blocked the roads and not the farmers. Traffic movement was allowed by the protestors in the past and will be done so now as well," the statement said. On October 21, the Supreme Court said that farmers have the right to protest but roads cannot be blocked indefinitely. This came while hearing a plea against the blockade of roads between Delhi to Noida due to farmers' protests against the three agriculture laws.

Farmers have been protesting at different sites since November 26 last year against the three enacted farm laws: Farmers' Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Act, 2020; the Farmers Empowerment and Protection) Agreement on Price Assurance and farm Services Act 2020 and the Essential Commodities (Amendment) Act, 2020. The Supreme Court of India had put a stay on the implementation of these laws in January 2021. Farmer leaders and the Centre have held several rounds of talks but the impasse remains.

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