Lakhimpur Kheri case: Victims' families challenge Ashish Mishra's bail in Supreme Court

The families of the deceased farmers have approached the Supreme Court to challenge the bail order for Ashish Mishra , the principal accused in the Lakhimpur Kheri case.

Union minister Ajay Mishra’s son, who was in custody for four months, was granted bail by Allahabad High Court on 10 February.

Farmers filed a plea to reject the bail at SC, stating, “The High Court granted bail without considering the heinous nature of the crime. The character of the overwhelming evidence against the accused in the chargesheet, the position and status of the accused with reference to the victim and witnesses, the likelihood of the accused fleeing from justice and repeating the offence and the possibility of his tampering with the witnesses and obstructing the course of justice.”

NDTV reported that the plea further added, “The counsel could barely make any submissions and repeated calls to the court staff to get reconnected were to no avail and application filed by the victims before High Court for an effective rehearing was rejected.”

On 3 October 3, 2021, eight people, which included four farmers, were killed in Lakhimpur Kheri of Uttar Pradesh after a farmers’ protest turned violent. The farmers were allegedly run over by an SUV and a driver and two BJP workers were allegedly lynched by the mob. Ashish Mishra was named as the main accused of the incident.

This is the second plea filed against the bail for Ashish Mishra. A petition was filed in the top court two days after Ashish Mishra’s release wherein the petitioners had raised the possibility of evidence tampering and threats to witnesses.

Days after the incident Mishra was arrested and a SIT was constituted thereafter and on 17 November, SC had appointed Justice Rakesh Kumar Jain to monitor the probe by UP SIT. SC also reconstituted the SIT and inducted get three IPS officers who are not natives of UP.

Mishra’s release comes days before Lakhimpur votes in the fourth phase of Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections on 23 February.

With inputs from agencies

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