The Rajasthan High Court on Wednesday dismissed the first information report (FIR) and the charge-sheet against Pehlu Khan, his two sons and the driver of the vehicle in a cattle smuggling case.
On October 14, the Rajasthan government had filed an appeal in the High Court challenging the acquittal of six accused by a lower court in connection with the lynching of Pehlu Khan in 2017.
Two FIRs were filed in the case -- one against the attackers and the other accusing Khan and his sons of allegedly transporting cattle without requisite permissions.
A special investigation team (SIT), which was set up to probe and identify lapses and irregularities in the police investigation in the lynching case, had in September submitted its report to the state government.
The state government had announced constitution of the SIT to probe afresh the case after a Rajasthan court on August 14 acquitted all six men accused of lynching Pehlu Khan on the benefit of the doubt.
On April 1 in 2017, Khan, a 55-year-old dairy farmer from Haryana's Nuh, was beaten up by self-styled cow vigilantes near Behror in Rajasthan on Delhi-Alwar highway. He had succumbed to his injuries at a private hospital two days later.
An amateur video of the incident that had also gone viral showed Khan being beaten up by a mob, thrown to the ground and kicked. Three, of the nine people accused of his murder, were underage.
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