Lakhimpur violence case: Farmers’ families move SC challenging bail to Ashish Mishra

Supreme Court (Photo: Twitter)


The Supreme Court was moved on Monday by the families of the farmers killed in Uttar Pradesh’s Lakhimpur Kheri challenging the bail to the main accused Ashish Mishra, the son of Union minister Ajay Mishra.

The bail was granted by the Allahabad High Court despite “overwhelming evidence” against the minister’s son, the petition alleged

Filed through advocate Prashant Bhushan, the plea said: “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 court did not consider 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.”

The plea also stated that victims were prevented from bringing the relevant material to the notice of High Court as their counsel got disconnected from the hearing of the bail matter on January 18, 2022.

“The counsel could barely make any submissions despite repeated calls to the court staff to get reconnected. The application filed by the victims before High Court for an effective rehearing was also rejected,” the petitioner alleged.

The petitioners said that they were forced to approach the top court since the state government failed to file an appeal against the Allahabad High Court order granting bail.

Ashish Mishra, the main accused in the killing of protesting farmers in UP’s Lakhimpur Kheri last year, was released from jail on February 15.

On October 3, a Mahindra Thar belonging to Ashish Mishra ran over four farmers and a journalist at Lakhimpur Kheri during a protest march against three (since scrapped) farm laws.

He was arrested only after the top court intervened.