New Delhi: Expressed displeasure for submitting a vague status report on Lakhimpur Kheri violence and poor progress on investigation, the Supreme Court has indicated to constitute a judicial commission headed by a retired high court judge to investigate the matter.

“We don’t want to add to political overtones, let a retired high court judge investigate the case”, Chief Justice N.V.Ramana observed while expressing slow progress in the investigation.

In Lakhimpur Kheri violence last month, Union Minister Ajay Mishra’s son Ashish Mishra alleged mowed down the agitating farmers with his SUV.

The investigation is not going the way that the court is expected, CJI has expressed unhappiness over the status report, he said there is nothing in the status report except saying that some more witnesses examined. Court has given ten days, the lab report also not come. Earlier Supreme Court has asked the Yogi Adhityananth government to list in a status report how many had been arrested in connection with the case and charges against them.

The bench observed that it appeared that two overlapping FIRs in the case were only aimed at protecting the accused, Ashish Mishra and that the investigations were not kept separate as they should be.

A total of eight people were killed on October 3 on Lakhimpur Kheri. After the killing of farmers, more were killed in the violence that erupted afterwards. The Supreme Court, on the complaint of the families of BJP workers killed in the violence, asked the UP government for a separate report on the killing of four more persons, including a journalist, but the government has not filed a detailed status report on the case, the government’s action has irked the court.

After the wrath of the Supreme Court, the UP police have arrested Ashish Mishra on October 11. Justice Surya Kanth observed that "We are sorry to say that prima facie it appears that one particular accused is being given benefits by overlapping two FIRs." The Chief Justice directed the up police, two FIRs had to be investigated separately.

Harish Salve, representing the Uttar Pradesh government, told the judges that while the attempt was to investigate the FIRs separately, "sometimes witnesses are called to talk about one FIR but started talking about incidents of the second FIR." He also said the overlap was because of confusion over journalist Raman Kashyap, who was killed that day- whether he was part of Ashish Mishra's team or not.

"To ensure that evidence of the two FIRs has to be recorded separately, we are inclined to appoint a former judge of a different High Court to monitor the day-to-day investigation. We don't want the judge from your state government's end," Justice Surya Kant remarked.