SC pulls up UP Police for delayed action on witness's complaint
New Delhi, Aug. 8 -- The Supreme Court on Thursday said that probing allegations of a witness being influenced in the Lakhimpur Kheri violence case trial is "imperative" as it pulled up the Uttar Pradesh police for delaying action on a June 20 complaint on the pretext that the witness is not willing to come to the police station and register a case.
"This may not be a satisfactory explanation on behalf of the police/prosecution," said a bench headed by justice Surya Kant, observing that when a complainant is unwilling to come forward, a senior police official should have visited the witness and verified the contents of his written complaint.
The complaint assumes significance as Ashish Mishra, son of former Union Minister Ajay Mishra, is one of the accused in the case who is currently out on bail since 2023. Mishra is accused of mowing down four farmers at Lakhimpur on October 3, 2021, as they protested the now-scrapped farm laws.
The witness Baljinder Singh had approached the top court in January this year alleging that a person had called and threatened him against deposing in the trial. Advocate Prashant Bhushan appearing for Singh informed the court on Tuesday that despite an order passed by the court on March 24 directing the police to investigate the complaint and file a status report, nothing had proceeded.
The bench, also comprising justices Ujjal Bhuyan and N Kotiswar Singh said, "In case the complainant has been reluctant to come forward with the complaint, a senior police officer can approach him and find out if he admits to have written the complaint.
If the contents of the complaint are acknowledged, it is imperative for police to iprobe."
Additional advocate general (AAG) Garima Parshad appearing for UP government informed the court that pursuant to the March 24 order, the Superintendent of Police had contacted the witness to come to the police station and record his complaint. However, he has not come so far.
Mishra represented by senior advocate Siddharth Dave vehemently opposed the allegations leveled by Bhushan claiming that the same is politically motivated at the behest of a local Samajwadi Party functionary....
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