Allahabad HC grants bail to 12 accused in Lakhimpur Kheri case 

The Allahabad High Court on Tuesday granted regular bail to 12 accused in the 2021 Lakhimpur Kheri violence which claimed at least eight lives, and in which former Union minister Ajay Mishra Teni's son Ashish is the main accused.

While approving the release of the accused on bail on Tuesday, the Lucknow bench of the Allahabad High Court asked them to cooperate in the trial or their bail would be revoked.

Prime accused Ashish Mishra was already granted regular bail by the Supreme Court in the case earlier this year.

The Allahabad HC bench that granted the bail to the 12 co-accused was presided over by Justice Krishna Pahal.

It approved separate bail petitions filed by Ankit Das, Nandan Singh Bisht, Latif alias Kale, Satyam Tripathi alias Satya Prakash Tripathi, Shekhar Bharti, Dharmendra Singh Banjara, Ashish Pandey, Rinku Rana, Ullas Kumar Trivedi alias Mohit Trivedi, Lavkush, Sumit Jaiswal and Shishupal.

The court had reserved its decision on October 18 after hearing the case in full and pronounced it on Tuesday via video-conferencing from the court.

In the court, the defence counsel argued that the case involves 114 witnesses, yet only seven have testified so far. It also argued the Supreme Court has already granted regular bail to prime accused Ashish Mishra.

The state government and the complainant's counsel opposed the bail petitions.

After considering arguments from both sides, the court noted that completing the trial might take time, and with the prime accused now out on bail and no complaints filed against the other accused during their interim release, the petitions for regular bail were granted.