Lakhimpur case trial not ‘slow-paced’: Supreme Court

New Delhi, March 14

Noting that the trial in the 2021 Lakhimpur Kheri violence case was not “slow-paced”, the Supreme Court on Tuesday directed the trial judge concerned to keep it informed about further developments in the trial.

A Bench led by Justice Surya Kant said though it’s not monitoring the trial, it’s having an “indirect supervision” on it. Four farmers were mowed down by an SUV in Lakhimpur Kheri when those against farm laws were holding a demonstration against Uttar Pradesh Deputy CM Keshav Prasad Maurya’s visit on October 3, 2021.

In the subsequent violence, two BJP workers, a driver and a journalist were killed. It was alleged that Union Minister Ajay Kumar Mishra Teni’s son Ashish was sitting in one of the cars. “The trial is not slow-paced. We have received three letters from the trial judge… We have gone through the contents of the letters received from the First Additional District and Sessions Judge, Lakhimpur Kheri,” the Bench said.