UP govt took all efforts to protect Lakhimpur case witnesses, SC told

In an affidavit filed on March 23, the state also said it was still contemplating about challenging the bail granted by the Allahabad high court to Mishra, son of Union minister Ajay Mishra ‘Teni’, on Feb 10.

An attack earlier this month on a witness in the Lakhimpur Kheri case was due to a local altercation and not related to either the violence last year that left eight people dead or the prime accused, Ashish Mishra, getting bail, the Uttar Pradesh government told the Supreme Court.

UP govt took all efforts to protect Lakhimpur case witnesses, SC told

In an affidavit filed on March 23, the state also said it was still contemplating about challenging the bail granted by the Allahabad high court to Mishra, son of Union minister Ajay Mishra ‘Teni’, on February 10.

“The State has taken all efforts to protect the witnesses and families of victims of case (Lakhimpur violence incident) and that the incident of March 10 has absolutely no relation to the October 3, 2021 incident and that the petitioner has attempted to conflate the two in an unwarranted manner.”

The results of assembly elections in Uttar Pradesh were announced on March 10, when the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) won a thumping victory.

The petitioners claimed that Diljot Singh, one of the witnesses, was brutally assaulted by miscreants and that the main accused (Ashish Mishra) was out on bail and the ruling party had returned to power in Uttar Pradesh.

But the state presented another version of the incident. It said that the attack took place due to an altercation after Diljot Singh opposed to a local group playing Holi. The state said that this version emerged from the statements of the armed guard providing security to the injured witness and three other eyewitnesses present on the spot.

“Contrary to the case put forth in the FIR registered by Diljot Singh, all the witnesses were ad idem (in agreement) on the fact that none of the miscreants mentioned either the respondent 1 (Ashish Mishra) or the ruling party winning the elections, and that the incident was a result of a sudden altercation due to the dispute over Holi Gulal and had no relation to the incident of October 3, 2021.”

It further added, “The attempt by the petitioners to conflate and connect the two incidents is completely unwarranted.” All the accused involved in the March 10 incident have since been released on bail, the state informed the court.

The plea was filed by Jagjit Singh, Pawan Kashyap and Sukhwinder Singh -- family members of those killed in the Lakhimpur violence -- and the case is listed for hearing before a bench of Chief Justice of India NV Ramana and justices Surya Kant and Hima Kohli on Wednesday.

The state also refuted the claim that it did not oppose Mishra’s bail by producing records from the bail proceedings before the Allahabad high court. The petitioners had alleged that the state did little to point out the grievous nature of the incident and failed to highlight the potential threat to witnesses and investigation if the accused was allowed bail. They further claimed that based on the February 10 order, other accused in the case were also being granted bail.

“The respondent’s (Ashish Mishra) bail application was vehemently opposed by the state and any averments to the contrary in the special leave petition (SLP) are completely false and merit to be rejected,” the affidavit stated.

On the government’s delay in filing an appeal – a fact used by the petitioners to allege collusion with the accused -- the affidavit said, “The impugned order being of February 10, 2022, the limitation period against the same is still running, and the decision to file SLP against the same, is pending consideration before the relevant authorities.”

On October 3, 2021, four farmers and a journalist were run over by a car allegedly belonging to Mishra. In the ensuing violence, three people – two BJP workers and a driver – were killed. The 13 accused were charged under sections 147(rioting), 148 (rioting armed with deadly weapons), 149 (unlawful assembly ), 307(attempt to murder), 326 (voluntarily causing grievous hurt), 302 (murder) and 120B (criminal conspiracy), section 427(mischief causing damage ), 34(acts done with common intention) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC),and Section 177 (wilfully disobeying directions) and B177 of the Motor Vehicle Act.

The top court took suo motu cognizance of the incident and even reconstituted the special investigation team (SIT) while appointing a retired high court judge to monitor the probe. The petition opposing bail granted to Mishra was taken up on March 16 when a bench headed by CJI Ramana took exception to the assault on Diljot Singh and directed state to file a response while making all efforts to protect witnesses.

The state assured the top court that families of all victims and witnesses in the case were provided an armed gunner for security, along with a permanent security guard and continuous CCTV monitoring at their residence. “A total of 98 persons have been provided security, of which 79 are from Lakhimpur Kheri district, 17 from other districts in the state and two from Uttarakhand,” the state submitted.