The Supreme Court reserved its verdict on Thursday on the bail petition filed by Ashish Mishra, son of Union Minister Ajay Mishra, in the Lakhimpur Kheri violence case, which led to the death of eight people, including four farmers.
The Bench of Justice Surya Kant and Justice J.K. Maheshwari, after hearing the arguments for nearly two hours, observed that Mishra may be granted bail, considering his period of custody lasting over a year.
The Apex Court further indicated that it might monitor the progress in the trial of the case.
The Counsel appearing for the families of victims opposed the bail plea, stating that there was no ground to make an exception for Mishra, since thousands of people were languishing in jail as undertrials in murder cases.
During the course of hearing, Justice Kant observed that if Mishra was denied bail, it would set a precedent for trial courts and High Courts not to grant bail, which would in turn cause injustice to poor people.
He said there were victims, who could not come to the court. Farmers and poor people were languishing in jail. The Supreme Court Judge asked how would these people get relief if Ashish was also in jail.
Earlier on January 11, the Bench of Justice Surya Kant and Justice V. Ramasubramanian had agreed to hear Sharma’s bail plea on January 19.
The Trial Court in Lakhimpur Kheri dealing with the case had submitted a Status Report in the Apex Court on January 11, stating that it would take at least five years for the trial to conclude, as the case had more than 200 witnesses.
In December 2022, the Apex Court had directed its Registrar to ascertain from the Additional Sessions Judge at Lakhimpur Kheri as to how much time the trial in the case on Lakhmipur Kheri violence was likely to take for conclusion.