Supreme Court grants bail to Ashish Mishra, directs trial court to expedite hearing in Lakhimpur Kheri violence case

Satya Prakash

New Delhi, July 22

The Supreme Court on Monday granted regular bail to former Union minister Ajay Mishra’s son and 2021 Lakhimpur Kheri violence case accused Ashish Mishra and directed the trial court to expedite the trial.

“Taking into consideration all the attending circumstances, the interim order is made absolute…We are informed that out of 117 witnesses, seven have been examined so far. In our view the trial proceedings need to be expedited. 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,” a Bench of Justice Surya Kant and Justice Ujjal Bhuyan said. It also granted bail to farmers in the case.

Four farmers were mowed down by an SUV in Lakhimpur Kheri when those against farm laws were holding a demonstration against Uttar Pradesh Deputy Chief Minister Keshav Prasad Maurya’s visit on October 3, 2021. In the subsequent violence, two BJP workers, a driver and a journalist were killed. It was alleged that Ashish was driving one of the cars.

On January 25, 2023, the top court had granted interim bail to Ashish Mishra and directed him to leave Uttar Pradesh within a week of his release from jail and not to stay in Uttar Pradesh or Delhi while on interim bail. He could go to Uttar Pradesh only for trial purposes.

However, relaxing his bail condition, the Supreme Court had on September 26, 2023 allowed him to visit Delhi to take care of his ailing mother and to avail treatment for his daughter.

On Monday, the Bench modified this condition and allowed him to stay in Delhi after senior counsel Siddhartha Dave submitted on behalf of Ashish that his daughters were studying in Delhi.

Dave contended that the father of the accused lost the Lok Sabha election and he was no longer a minister. However, Justice Kant said a person can be influential without being a minister.

Advocate Prashant Bhushan, representing the victims, said only seven witnesses had been examined in 19 months and that at this pace the trial would never end.

A Lakhimpur Kheri court had on December 6, 2022 framed charges against Ashish Mishra and 12 others for murder, criminal conspiracy and certain other offences in the case. Virendra Shukla, the 14th accused has been charged under Section 201 of the IPC for causing disappearance of evidence.