New Delhi, Oct 5 (PTI) The Supreme Court on Monday asked the Allahabad High Court chief justice to act expeditiously on allegations against the presiding officer of the 2021 Lakhimpur Kheri violence case that he transferred several cases to himself and acquitted the accused.
A bench comprising Chief Justice of India Surya Kant and Justices Joymalya Bagchi and V Mohana also asked the Uttar Pradesh government to appoint at the earliest a new public prosecutor to conduct the trial in the sensational case.
On September 22, the top court had taken note of the submissions of lawyer Prashant Bhushan, appearing for the victims, that the conduct of the presiding officer of the 2021 Lakhimpur Kheri violence case was objectionable as he transferred several criminal cases to himself and acquitted the accused.
The bench had asked the Allahabad High Court chief justice to furnish the report in a sealed cover after looking into the matter and taking remedial action.
On Monday, the bench took note of the submissions of senior advocate Rakesh Dwivedi, appearing for the high court registry, that an administrative committee had to be set up to look into the allegations against the judge.
“The chief justice of the high court should take an appropriate action as per para three of our order dated September 22, 2026,” the bench said.
“The Registrar (Vigilance) of the High Court shall forward a report to this Court in a sealed cover, indicating the action that may be taken by the Hon’ble Chief Justice of the High Court,” the top court had said in its order.
Senior advocate Siddharth Dave, appearing for accused Ashish Mishra, who had moved the top court for bail, said that Bhushan had problems with everybody associated with the case, be it the trial judge, the public prosecutor or the accused.
He said that the judge had examined 86 witnesses out of the total of over 130 in the main case.
The bench said that it was not making observations on the allegations and their counter and listed the plea for hearing after two weeks.
Earlier, Bhushan had alleged that the presiding officer issued a non-bailable warrant against his client after he failed to appear to depose before the court on account of illness.
“The conduct of the presiding officer will shock the conscience of the court. The presiding officer withdrew to himself NDPS, SC/ST cases and granted the accused bail or acquitted them. Under the law, he cannot withdraw to himself,” Bhushan contended.
He further claimed that even the public prosecutor had been changed midway and the new one only had four months of experience.
On August 6, the top court refused to further relax the bail conditions of Mishra, the prime accused in the case.
On October 3, 2021, eight people, including four farmers, were killed in Tikunia in Uttar Pradesh’s Lakhimpur Kheri district during a protest by farmers against Deputy Chief Minister Keshav Prasad Maurya’s visit to the area.
Four farmers were mowed down by an SUV. A driver and two BJP workers were then allegedly lynched by angry farmers. A journalist also died in the violence.
In December 2023, the trial court framed charges against Mishra and 12 others, including those of murder, criminal conspiracy and other offences, paving the way for the commencement of the trial in the main case. PTI SJK MNL DIV
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