NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Wednesday afternoon took suo motu cognisance of the violent incident in Lakhimpur Kheri, where 8 persons lost their lives after a vehicle ploughed into protesting farmers and the subsequent lynching of some persons by the crowd.
A bench of Chief Justice N V Ramana and Justices Surya Kant and Hima Kohli is scheduled to hear the suo motu matter on Thursday and it is likely to seek a response from the Uttar Pradesh government as to why police have not yet arrested those responsible for the violent incidents leading to the loss of lives.
In the October 3 incident, the vehicle reportedly belonging to junior Union home minister Ajay Mishra Teni, and allegedly driven by his son Ashish, had run over a crowd of protesters leading to the death of four farmers. The farmers then allegedly turned violent and lynched three occupants of the vehicle. One journalist covering the protest also died. The Union minister has denied that his son was in the vehicle and said an attack on the vehicle led to the panicked driver losing control.

Two lawyers, practising in Supreme Court, had shot off a letter to the CJI seeking an impartial probe into the incident, which has turned Uttar Pradesh into a political cauldron with opposition leaders attempting to reach the families of the victim farmers and the state administration trying to block entry to prevent the situation from spiralling out of hand.
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