The Supreme Court on Monday granted bail to Ashish Mishra, the son of former Union minister Ajay Mishra, in the 2021 Lakhimpur Kheri violence case, Live Law reported.
The case pertains to the death of eight persons, including four farmers, on October 3, 2021 as violence had broken out after a vehicle belonging to Ashish Mishra had allegedly run over a group of demonstrators. The violence had taken place in Lakhimpur Kheri district of Uttar Pradesh during a protest against the Centre’s agricultural laws that have now been repealed.
In January 2023, a bench of Justices Surya Kant and JK Maheshwari had granted Ashish Mishra and interim bail for eight weeks that was repeatedly extended. On Monday, a bench of Justices Kant and Ujjal Bhuyan made that interim order absolute.
The latest interim bail order had directed Ashish Mishra to leave Uttar Pradesh within one week of his release as the prosecution had said that he could influence witnesses in the case. He cannot stay in Uttar Pradesh or the National Capital Region during his bail period, the order had said.
However, the court on Monday modified the condition to permit Ashish Mishra to stay in Delhi or Uttar Pradesh’s Lucknow, Live Law reported. It, however, asked him to follow the other conditions imposed in the 2023 order.
During the hearing on Monday, Senior Advocate Siddhartha Dave, representing Ashish Mishra, told the court that Bharatiya Janata Party leader Ajay Mishra was no longer an MP as he had lost the Lok Sabha elections this year.
“So the entire controversy that was created about how controversial I [Ashish Mishra] am goes out,” Dave told the court, according to Live Law.
The court, however, noted that an individual could be influential without being a minister.
Advocate Prashant Bhushan, appearing for those opposing the bail petition, noted that only seven witnesses had been examined in 19 months, adding that this way, the trial would never end.
“We are informed that out of 117 witnesses, seven have been examined so far,” the court said, according to PTI. “In our view the trial proceedings need to be expedited.”
On December 6, a trial court had framed the charges against Ashish Mishra and 12 others for murder, criminal conspiracy and other offences under the Indian Penal Code in the case. This had paved the way for the trial to start, PTI reported.
The Supreme Court on Monday added: “We direct the trial court to fix the schedule, keeping in view the other time-bound or urgent matters that are pending but prioritising the pending subject.”
It also directed the trial court to send the status report ahead of the next date of the hearing.
Ashish Mishra was first arrested in the case on October 9, 2021. He walked out of jail on February 15, 2022, after the Allahabad High Court granted him bail. However, families of those killed in the violence challenged the bail order in the Supreme Court, which overturned the High Court verdict and cancelled Mishra’s bail in April 2022.
After setting aside the High Court’s bail order, the Supreme Court had asked to assign another bench to hear his plea. The new bench denied Ashish Mishra bail in July 2022, after which he moved the Supreme Court once again to challenge the order.
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