The Supreme Court on Monday refused to recall its earlier order granting bail to former Union Minister Ajay Mishra's son Ashish Mishra over allegations that witnesses were being threatened in the 2021 Lakhimpur Kheri violence case.
A two-judge Bench of the apex court comprising Justice Surya Kant and Justice N Kotiswar Singh refused to pass any order recalling its earlier direction of granting bail to Mishra. "The police report did not substantiate the allegations that a person close to Mishra had tried to influence the witnesses," the bench noted and refused to entertain the plea filed by kin of some of the deceased who sought cancellation of bail of Mishra on the ground that he was trying to influence the witnesses in the case.
The SC, however, granted liberty to a prosecution eye-witness, who was allegedly sought to be influenced against testifying, to file a complaint with the police authorities.
The apex court clarified that the complaint of the family members of the deceased, shall be investigated "dispassionately and uninfluenced by the conclusions drawn earlier by the police in its status report."
In one of its earlier hearings, the Supreme Court had asked the Superintendent of Police, Lakhimpur, to initiate an enquiry into the allegations levelled by family members of some of the victims of the Lakhimpur Kheri violence that the prime accused Mishra tried to influence the witnesses in the case.
On July 22, 2023, in a major relief to Mishra in the case relating to the violence that claimed eight lives, the Supreme Court had granted him bail with a slew of directions.
Dismissing the allegations of influencing witnesses, Sidharth Dave, lawyer appearing for Mishra, said, on the relevant day, Mishra was at the Lok Sabha secretariat and there cannot be a bigger proof of the allegations being misplaced. "The applicants have developed a habit of repeatedly making such kind of allegations against Mishra," Dave argued.
On the other hand, Prashant Bhushan, lawyer for the family members, said that the identity of the witnesses sought to be influenced can't be revealed due to fear of reprisal. "The bail of the accused (Ashish Mishra) should be cancelled immediately for breach of the SC's orders," he argued before the apex court.
According to the prosecution, eight people, including four farmers, were allegedly killed on October 3, 2021, after violence in the Lakhimpur Kheri district of Uttar Pradesh during a protest against the Centre’s farm laws that have now been repealed. The violence broke out after a vehicle belonging to Mishra had allegedly run over a group of demonstrators.
The Supreme Court in February last year had extended the interim bail granted to Mishra who has vehemently denied the allegations against him.
Mishra was first arrested in the case on October 9, 2021. He walked out of jail on February 15, 2022, after the Allahabad High Court had granted him bail.
On December 6, an Uttar Pradesh court had framed charges against 14 people including Mishra. He has been charged for a number of offences including murder, attempt to murder, rioting and criminal conspiracy. The trial had begun on December 16, 2023.