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Lakhimpur Kheri case: Ashish Mishra moves Supreme Court for bail
Ashish Mishra, the main accused in the Lakhimpur Kheri violence case, has approached the Supreme Court for bail claiming there is no scope for “hampering and tempering” with the witnesses or the evidence as all 98 witnesses were being provided security
New Delhi: Ashish Mishra, the main accused in the Lakhimpur Kheri violence case, has approached the Supreme Court for bail claiming there is no scope for “hampering and tempering” with the witnesses or the evidence as all 98 witnesses were being provided security.
Mishra, who is the son of Union minister of state for home Ajay Mishra Teni, was denied bail by the Allahabad high court on July 26 against which he has now approached the top court. The appeal was filed early this month and is yet to be listed for hearing.
In his appeal, Mishra said, “There is no possibility of hampering and tempering with the prosecution witnesses,” referring to the fact that “the 98 witnesses and their family members have been provided gunners including the barricading of police at their residence under the CCTV camera.”
Mishra was arrested on October 9, 2021 and the charge sheet filed in the case claimed the killing to be “pre-planned”. According to the police report, Mishra came in a Mahindra Thar (SUV) along with a convoy of three-four cars on October 3 and mowed down protesting farmers against the now-repealed farm laws, gathered to protest the arrival of UP deputy chief minister Keshav Prasad Maurya. Four of the protesting farmers were killed, following which three occupants from the jeep were pulled out and thrashed resulting in their death.
“The bail application has been rejected by the high court without taking into consideration that three persons towards the side of accused were brutally murdered and three persons sitting in Thar vehicle have sustained grievous bodily injuries,” Mishra said in response to the charges.
The deaths caused by the vehicle, Mishra added, occurred as the protesters attacked the driver of the vehicle who suffered head injuries and it appears that the driver lost mental equilibrium resulting in the fatal deaths.
“No criminal liability can be attributable against the owner (Mishra) of the vehicle in any manner, especially when the driver has been done to death by the furious mob,” the petition said, adding: “The individual criminal liability after his (driver) death shall stand abated under criminal jurisprudence.”
On April 18, the top court directed the Allahabad high court to decide afresh on Mishra’s bail after the bail granted to him in February was challenged by the victims in the top court. The matter was returned to the HC with a direction to it preferably within three months.
The Supreme Court in November last year constituted a special investigation team (SIT) to carry out further probe in the case. The top court had appointed a retired judge of the Punjab and Haryana high court — justice (retired) Rakesh Jain — to monitor the probe.
The HC in its order of July 26 said, “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, without expressing any opinion on the merits of the case, I do not find it a fit case for bail.”
