Overview
- India’s top court, which on Friday reviewed a Uttar Pradesh status report, said no witnesses had been examined for about two months in the 2021 Lakhimpur Kheri violence trials.
- The bench directed the presiding trial judge to take lawful steps to secure witness attendance, enforce the witness-protection scheme, file a fresh status report, and push the cases to a time-bound finish.
- Chief Justice Surya Kant suggested summoning seven to eight witnesses on each date so testimony can proceed even if some fail to appear.
- In the main case, 44 of 131 witnesses have deposed and 15 were discharged, leaving 72 still to be examined; in the cross-case, 26 of 35 have testified with nine pending, a tally the court noted had not changed since March.
- A third case on alleged witness intimidation has a chargesheet against one accused while Ashish Mishra’s role remains under probe, with the investigating officer told to finish in four weeks before a July review; victims’ counsel alleged police threats are deterring witnesses.