Lakhimpur Kheri incident a pre-planned conspiracy: SIT says as UP Court allows fresh charges against accused

The Special Investigation Team (SIT) probing the Lakhimpur Kheri violence that resulted in the death of eight persons has moved an application before an Uttar Pradesh court claiming that the whole incident was "pre-planned" with an intention to kill the protestors..The SIT submitted before the Court,"It appears from the probe that...till now that the said act wasn't a negligent act committed by the accused, rather, it was done intentionally as per premeditated plan to kill...".Through its application, the SIT thus sought to invoke fresh charges against the 12 accused in the case. It prayed that Section 304A (culpable homicide not amounting to murder), Section 279 (negligent driving), and Section 338 (causing grievous hurt) should be removed and substituted by Section 307 (attempt to murder), Section 326 (causing hurt with dangerous weapon), Section 34 (acts done by several persons in furtherance of common intention), and Section 3 and 24 of Arms Act.Indian Express reported that the Chief Judicial Magistrate has now accepted the new charges against main accused Ashish Mishra and others. The Court, however, rejected the SIT’s plea to invoke the charge of “common intention” against the accused..In October this year, a group of persons including farmers protesting against the Farm Laws were mowed down by four-wheelers belonging to Ashish Mishra, who is the son of Union Minister for State, Ajay Mishra Teni. Eight people were killed and several others injured in the ensuing violence..The Supreme Court had taken cognizance of the incident after two lawyers from Uttar Pradesh had written a letter to Chief Justice of India NV Ramana seeking a probe by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).In their letter, Advocates Shivkumar Tripathi and CS Panda also sought a direction to the Union Ministry of Home Affairs to ensure the registration of an FIR in the matter as well as punishment to the guilty parties involved in the incident.During the hearing of the matter on October 8, the top court had expressed its displeasure with the manner in which the Uttar Pradesh government and police were handling the issue. CJI Ramana, who was heading the Bench hearing the case, observed that looking at the way the investigation was proceeding, it did not seem that the authorities were serious.The UP government had, however, assured the Court that action would be taken. Mishra was subsequently arrested on October 9 by the SIT after 12 hours of questioning and was sent to three days' police custody. His bail application is currently pending before the Allahabad High Court, after the Sessions Court and the Chief Judicial Magistrate previously refused to grant him bail..On November 17, the Supreme Court had appointed former judge of the Punjab & Haryana High Court Justice Rakesh Kumar Jain to oversee the probe into the incident..[BREAKING] Supreme Court appoints Justice Rakesh Kumar Jain to oversee Lakhimpur Kheri violence probe.[Read application by UP Special Investigation Team here].Follow Bar and Bench channel on WhatsAppDownload the Bar and Bench Mobile app for instant access to the latest legal news.