The Supreme Court on Friday agreed to hear on March 15, a plea filed by family members of farmers mowed down by a car belonging to Ashish Mishra, in Lakhimpur Kheri challenging bail granted to him by the Allahabad High Court. Mishra is the son of Union Minister and BJP MP Ajay Kumar Mishra.
Advocate Prashant Bhushan mentioned the matter before the bench led by the CJI NV Ramana, and Justices AS Bopanna and Hima Kohli. Bhushan says there was an attack last night on one of the witness in the case.
CJI said we will hear it on next Tuesday.
Earlier on March 4, Bhushan stated before the bench that other accused seeking bail on the parity. The high court is completely ignoring the evidences etc.
The family Members of those farmers, who lost their lives in Lakhimpur Kheri incident, on Tuesday moved the Supreme Court against bail granted to prime accused Ashish Mishra.
Ashish Misra, son of Union minister Ajay Misra, was arrested on October 9, 2021, in connection with the violence that erupted in UP’s Lakhimpur Kheri district on October 3. He was granted bail on February 10, 2022.
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The petitioners claimed that they were forced to move the Supreme Court after the state government did not challenge the high court’s order.
The petition, filed by advocate Prashant Bhushan, raised questions over the SIT probe and the UP government. It claimed that the High Court did not consider the concrete evidence given against Misra while granting bail because chargesheet had not come on the record of the court till then.
Bail was granted only on the basis of FIR, the petition claimed.
While farmers’ outfits alleged that Ashish Misra was inside a car that ran over the four farmers, the Union minister’s son denied the claims.
On November 9, the Forensic Science Laboratory confirmed that shots had been fired from the licensed guns of accused Ankit Das and Ashish Misra during the Lakhimpur Kheri violence.
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This is the second petition filed in the Supreme Court challenging Ashish Misra’s bail.
Eight people were killed on October 3 after violence erupted during a farmers’ protest, claiming the lives of farmers and BJP workers ahead of a visit to Lakhimpur by Uttar Pradesh Deputy Chief Minister Keshav Prasad Maurya. Four of the dead were people in cars that were part of a convoy of BJP workers who had come to welcome the UP minister. The four others were farmers.