New Delhi, April 4: The Supreme Court on Monday reserved its order on a petition seeking cancellation of bail granted to Ashish Mishra, son of a Union Minister and a prime accused in the Lakhimpur Kheri incident in Uttar Pradesh which claimed eight lives. A three-judge special Bench headed by Chief Justice N V Ramana reserved the judgement. Senior advocate Dushyant Dave told the apex court that the High Court had made a grave mistake of considering the FIR when a chargesheet had been filed. He also submitted that the High Court placed emphasis on bullet wounds and use of firearms rather than the act of crushing the protestors under a vehicle. Senior advocate Mahesh Jethmalani, appearing for the State of Uttar Pradesh, submitted before the court that the killings were “a grave offence” but submitted that the accused was not at a flight risk and there was no possibility for evidence tampering. The Supreme Court on the previous hearing had supplied a copy of the report that had been given by the judge of the committee investigating the incident. The judge had recommended cancellation of the bail granted to Ashish Mishra. In October 2021, violence broke out in Lakhimpur Kheri district where four farmers were mowed down by an SUV when farmers were protesting against the farm laws. The prime accused in the incident, Ashish Mishra, was granted bail on February 10 by the Allahabad High Court. In November 2021, the Supreme Court appointed a retired Punjab and Haryana High court judge, Rakesh Kumar Jain, to monitor the investigation. The Uttar Pradesh government has told the Supreme Court that it had opposed the bail plea of Ashish Mishra. The family members of the deceased farmers knocked on the doors of the Supreme Court on February 21, challenging the bail granted by the Allahabad High Court to Mishra. (UNI)
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