Supreme Court relieves SIT in Lakhimpur Kheri violence case
New Delhi (PTI): The Supreme Court on Monday relieved the Special Investigation Team (SIT) in the Lakhimpur Kheri violence case, saying it has already completed its probe and submitted a charge sheet in the trial court.
The case pertains to the incident of violence on October 3, 2021, in which eight people, including four farmers, were killed in Lakhimpur Kheri district's Tikunia.
Issuing the order on Monday, a bench of justices Surya Kant and Dipankar Datta also said that if there arises any necessity to reconstitute the SIT, an appropriate order shall be passed.
The apex court had appointed Justice Rakesh Kumar Jain, a former judge of the Punjab and Haryana High Court, to supervise on a day-to-day basis the Uttar Pradesh Police SIT's probe into the case.
Three senior IPS officers, S B Shirodkar, Deepinder Singh and Padmaja Chauhan, were part of the SIT.
The top court on July 11 had extended till September 26 the interim bail of Union minister Ajay Kumar Mishra's son Ashish Mishra, who is facing prosecution in the case.
The violence had erupted when farmers were protesting against Uttar Pradesh Deputy Chief Minister Keshav Prasad Maurya's visit to the area.
Four farmers were moved down by an SUV. A driver and two BJP workers were then allegedly lynched by angry farmers. A journalist also died in the violence that triggered outrage among opposition parties and farmer groups agitating over the Centre's now-repealed agri laws.
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Karnataka Cabinet ratifies decisions on internal reservation for SCs
Bengaluru (PTI): The Karnataka Cabinet has ratified its earlier decisions on internal reservation for Scheduled Castes and approved key modifications to streamline recruitment, including withdrawal and reissue of notifications and adoption of a 400-point roster system.
Briefing reporters after the meeting, Karnataka Law and Parliamentary Affairs Minister H K Patil on Thursday said the Cabinet reaffirmed its commitment to implementing internal reservation within the 15 per cent SC quota and expediting long-pending recruitment across departments.
"The Cabinet ratified decisions taken in earlier meetings (April 16 and April 24) and made modifications regarding reservation policies," Patil said.
He said the government will implement internal reservation within the 15 per cent quota for Scheduled Castes in specified proportions and revise recruitment notifications accordingly, with a 400-point roster to be followed.
If fewer than three roster points for SC arise in recruitment, then all 101 Scheduled Caste communities will be allowed to compete under SC general, he said.
Patil added that recruitment notifications issued without incorporating internal reservation will be withdrawn and reissued in line with the revised policy.
"If the Supreme Court approves 24 per cent reservation for SC/ST, six per cent backlog posts will be filled," he said, noting that urgent steps will be taken to fill 56,432 approved posts.
The latest decision follows the Cabinet's April 24 resolution that cleared a revised internal reservation formula within the overall 15 per cent SC quota, paving the way for long-pending government recruitment. The government had approved 5.25 per cent reservation each for the "right-hand" and "left-hand" groups, and about 4.5 per cent for other Scheduled Castes, including nomadic communities.
Chief Minister Siddaramaiah had then said the categorisation was worked out proportionately within the constitutional ceiling. "From tomorrow onwards, the recruitment process will begin with the issuance of notifications," he had said after the April 24 Cabinet meeting.
He also noted that the SC quota was fixed at 15 per cent and ST at three per cent in line with the 50 per cent cap laid down in the Indra Sawhney case, while pointing out that the Supreme Court had permitted internal reservation within constitutional limits.
