Kheri violence: HC rejects Ashish Mishra’s bail plea, questions media trial

The Lucknow bench of the Allahabad high court said the media have been overstepping the sanctity of the judiciary in high-profile criminal cases

The Lucknow bench of the Allahabad high court on Tuesday rejected the bail plea of Ashish Mishra, the son of Union minister of state for home Ajay Mishra, in the October 3, 2021 Lakhimpur Kheri violence case that left eight people, including four farmers, dead.

The court said had both sides (the victims and the accused) observed restraint, eight precious lives would not have been lost in the Lakhimpur Kheri violence violence in October 2021. (Representative Image)

The court also called out the recent trends in the media of conducting ill-informed and agenda driven debates and said the media have been overstepping the sanctity of the judiciary in high-profile criminal cases.

Uttar Pradesh additional advocate general Vinod Kumar Shahi appeared on behalf of the state government and opposed the bail saying that the accused persons came in a fast-moving vehicle and crushed five innocent persons and injured 13 others. In the ensuing violence, two Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) workers and the driver of a vehicle were killed by an agitated mob.

A single judge bench of Justice Krishan Pahal observed, “Taking into consideration the complicity of the applicant, there being apprehension of the witnesses being influenced, severity of punishment as drawn from the nature and gravity of the accusations, after taking due consideration of the submissions of the parties, without expressing any opinion on the merits of the case, I do not find it a fit case for bail.” “The bail application of the applicant Ashish Mishra is rejected,” the court added.

“The media is supposed to provide news to the society, but sometimes we have seen that individual views are overshadowing the news thus putting an adverse effect on truth. Of late, media are seen overstepping upon the sanctity of judiciary in high profile criminal cases, as was evident in the cases of Jessica Lal, Indrani Mukherjee and Aarushi Talwar etc,” the court said.

“Media trial apart from taking up the investigation on its own leads to forming public opinion against the suspect even before the court takes cognizance of the case as a result the accused who should have been presumed innocent is treated a criminal,” the court observed.

“The excessive publicity of the suspect in the media before the trial in a court of law, either incriminates a fair trial or results in characterising the accused or suspect as the one who has certainly committed the crime,” the court said.

The court also pointed out that at various stages and forums it has been seen that ill-informed and agenda driven debates are being undertaken by media running “kangaroo courts”.

Observation on October 3 incident

The court said had both sides (farmers and the minister’s son) observed restraint, eight precious lives would not have been lost in the violence. The court also pointed out that the district administration, Lakhimpur Kheri, had imposed Section 144 of the CrPC on the day when the incident took place. It was applicable not only to the accused (Ashish Mishra) and his associates but also to agitating farmers.

The case

Eight people, including four farmers, a journalist and two BJP workers and a driver were killed and several injured in the Tikunia violence in Lakhimpur Kheri district on October 3, 202.

A “Thar” SUV and a “Fortuner” were set on fire by agitated farmers. Justice Rajeev Singh of the Lucknow bench of Allahabad high court granted bail to Ashish Mishra on February 10, 2022.

However, the Supreme Court cancelled Mishra’s bail in April and referred the matter back to the Lucknow high court. While cancelling Mishra’s bail, the Supreme Court also asked the high court to reconsider his bail application.

Later, justice Singh recused himself from hearing it again and referred the matter to the chief justice of the high court for nomination of another bench. The case was handed over to the court of justice Krishan Pahal.

The special investigation team (SIT) of the state government is probing the case. It has arrested 13 people involved in the incident. Ashish Mishra is the prime accused in the case. A local court in Lakhimpur Kheri had rejected bail applications of all accused in the case.