12 'Rat miner' heroes of Silkyara tunnel rescue among 49 given Jeevan Raksha Padaks
New Delhi, Jan 25 (PTI): Rat miners who had who had rescued the construction workers trapped in Silkyara Bend-Barkot tunnel in Uttarakhand in 2023 are among 49 people approved by President Droupadi Murmu for Jeevan Raksha Padaks.
The awards are given for meritorious act in saving the life of a person, on the occasion of 76th Republic Day, a government statement said.
Sarvottam Jeevan Raksha Padak has been awarded to 17 individuals including the team of 12 rat miners and five others posthumously.
Pintu Kumar Sahni from Bihar, Manesh K M from Kerala, Dawa Tshering Lepcha and Pema Tenzing Lachungpa from Sikkim, and Gunner Anis Kumar Gupta of defence ministry have been named for the award posthumously, the government statement said.
The 12-member team of rat miners -- Vaqeel Hassan, Munna Qureshi, Ankur Kumar, Monu Kumar, Devendra, Mohmmed Rashid, Firoz Qureshi, Jatin Kashyap, Saurabh Kashyap, Mohmmed Irshad, Nasruddin, and Naseem -- which worked for 26 hours without break to rescue the workers for 17 days has been given Sarvottam Jeevan Raksha Padak.
The award is given in three categories -- Sarvottam Jeevan Raksha Padak, Uttam Jeevan Raksha Padak, and Jeevan Raksha Padak.
"The decoration of the award consists of a Medal, Certificate signed by the Union Home Minister and lump sum Monetary Allowance. It is presented to the awardees by the respective Union Ministries/Organizations/State Government to which the awardee belongs," the statement said.
Uttam Jeevan Raksha Padak has been awarded to nine people, including one posthumously and Jeevan Raksha Padak to 23 others.
The awardees of Uttam Jeevan Raksha Padak include Ritik Chauhan, Shashikant Ramkrushna Gajbe, NK Shankar Singh Kharayat, Havildar Leki Passang, Rakesh Singh Rana, Manmohan Singh, Pradeep Kumar and Sachin Kumar.
Rajesh Ranjan Kujur of defence ministry will get medal posthumously.
Jeevan Raksha Padak has been given to Nelli Srinivasa Rao, Vikas Yadav, Sushri Manishaben Amarshibhai Malakiya, Kumari Diya Fathima, Muhammad Hashir N K, Kishor Kumar Arney, Dadarao Govindrao Pawar, and Dnyaneshwar Mukundrao Bhedodkar.
K Shimreingam Shimray, Elambok Dkhar, Kisen Wanniang, Laltlanzova, Y Pongba, Ranjana Bhandari, C Anbarasan, Bandakindi Shravan Kumar, Aakash Pradhan, Kali Kinkar Manna, Naik Ajith R Nair, Dhanbeer Singh Negi, Dhanesh Chand Yadav, Sgt Ram Kumar Jaiswal, and Pallabi Biswas would be the rest to get the same award.
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Lakhimpur Kheri violence case: SC expresses disappointment over non-production of witnesses in trial
New Delhi (PTI): The Supreme Court on Friday expressed disappointment over the non-production of witnesses in the ongoing trial against Ashish Mishra, son of former Union minister Ajay Mishra, and others in the 2021 Lakhimpur Kheri violence case.
A bench of Chief Justice Surya Kant and Justice Joymalya Bagchi said the status report filed before it by the Uttar Pradesh government has not assigned any reason whatsoever for the non-production of witnesses.
It noted that no witnesses have been examined in the trial for the last two months.
"We direct the presiding judge to take lawful measures to secure the presence of witnesses," the bench said.
It asked the trial judge to make an endeavour to conclude the trial in a time-bound manner, and also to file a status report before it.
The trials in two cases related to the incident are going on before a court in Uttar Pradesh.
The bench noted that in the first case, out of 131 witnesses to be examined, 44 have been examined, 15 have been discharged and 72 are still to be produced.
In the second FIR, out of 35 witnesses, 26 have been examined and nine were left, it said.
Senior advocate Siddharth Dave, appearing for Ashish Mishra, said that as per the latest status report filed by Uttar Pradesh, 44 witnesses have been examined so far in the first FIR.
"No witnesses have been examined in the last two months," Dave said.
He argued that the last status report filed by the state in March also said that 44 witnesses had been examined.
"What have you done from March till today?" the bench asked the counsel appearing for Uttar Pradesh.
The state's counsel said that 3-4 witnesses were summoned for the recording of their deposition during the trial.
The bench said at least 7-8 witnesses should be summoned instead of three or four for a day, so that even if some of them do not turn up, the trial court could proceed with the recording of statements of those appearing before it.
The top court also wondered how official witnesses can remain absent during the trial.
"We are disappointed to note that the so-called status report does not assign any reason whatsoever for non-production of witnesses...," the bench said.
Advocate Prashant Bhushan, appearing for the relatives of the farmers who were allegedly mowed down in the incident, said the apex court will have to do something regarding the manner in which the trial was going on.
The bench noted that besides the two FIRs, another FIR was registered in October last year concerning alleged witness intimidation.
It said that, as per the state's status report, the chargesheet was filed against the main accused in that case.
The bench noted that the status report reveals that, as far as Ashish Mishra is concerned, his alleged role in the third case is still being investigated.
The top court directed the investigating officer of the third case to conclude the pending probe and ensure that the appropriate report is filed before the concerned court within four weeks.
The bench posted the next hearing in the Lakhimpur Kheri violence case for July.
On October 3, 2021, eight people, including four farmers, were killed in Tikunia in 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 a sports utility vehicle. A driver and two BJP workers were then allegedly lynched by angry farmers. A journalist also died in the violence.
In one of the cases, the trial court in December 2023 framed charges against Mishra and 12 others for alleged murder, criminal conspiracy and under other penal laws in the case of the farmers' deaths, paving the way for the trial.
