New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Thursday asked Maharashtra government and other respondents to file their response on a petition seeking a probe by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) in the Palghar mob lynching incident.

A bench headed by Justice Ashok Bhushan asked the respondents to file their reply on the public interest litigation (PIL) and slated the matter for further hearing in the second week of July.

The plea, filed by Mahant Swami Shraddhanand Saraswati and six other sadhus of the Juna Akhara and one other person named Ghanashyam Upadhyay, raised concern over the mob lynching incident and sought an NIA probe in the matter.

The state government, on the other hand, opposed the plea saying similar matters are already pending before the Bombay High Court.

A petition is also pending before the Bombay High Court seeking directions to transfer the investigation into the incident to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) or alternatively constitute a special investigation team (SIT) monitored by the court for the same.

Two sadhus and their driver, who were travelling from Kandivali in Mumbai to Gujarat, were beaten to death on April 16, allegedly by villagers in Gadchinchle of Palghar, as they suspected them of being thieves. (ANI)