Lakhimpur Kheri Case: SC Cancels Ashish Mishra's Bail, Gives One Week's Time to Surrender

The Supreme Court on Monday cancelled the bail of Ashish Mishra, son of Union minister Ajay Mishra, in the Lakhimpur Kheri violence case. A special bench of Chief Justice NV Ramana and Justices Surya Kant and Hima Kohli also asked the accused to surrender in a week’s time.

The top court on April 4 had reserved its order on a plea of farmers seeking cancellation of bail to Ashish Mishra. The Allahabad High Court had granted bail to Mishra in the case.

The Supreme Court ordered the Allahabad High Court to review its decision on Ashish Mishra’s bail plea. Senior advocate Dushyant Dave, appearing for the farmers, appealed to the apex court to order the High Court to transfer the matter to a different division. However, the chief justice rejected the request saying it was not appropriate.

“Victims have the right to be heard in every proceeding. We hold that the victims have been denied the chance of an effective hearing in the present case,” the bench stated.

“The denial of victims to be heard and the tearing hurry shown by the High Court merits the setting aside of the bail order,” it added.

The SC also observed that the judicial precedents were ignored in the case and added that an FIR cannot be treated as an encyclopaedia of events.

The apex court had earlier raised questions over the Allahabad High Court verdict granting bail to Ashish Mishra, saying unnecessary details like postmortem report and nature of wounds should not have gone into when the trial was yet to commence. The special bench, also comprising Justices Surya Kant and Hima Kohli, had also taken strong note of the fact that the state government did not file an appeal against the high court’s order as suggested by the apex court-appointed SIT.

On October 3 last year, eight people were killed in Lakhimpur Kheri during violence that erupted when farmers were protesting against Uttar Pradesh Deputy Chief Minister Keshav Prasad Maurya’s visit to the area.

Four farmers were mowed down by an SUV, in which Ashish Mishra was seated, according to the Uttar Pradesh Police FIR. Following the incident, the driver and two BJP workers were allegedly lynched by angry farmers. A journalist also died in the violence that triggered outrage among opposition parties and farmer groups agitating over the Centre’s now-repealed agricultural reform laws.

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