The Allahabad High Court on Tuesday, 26 July, rejected the bail petition of Ashish Mishra, the son of Union Minister of State for Home Affairs Ajay Mishra, in connection with the Lakhimpur Kheri violence of October 2021.
The verdict was delivered by a Lucknow bench of the court comprising of Justice Krishna Pahal, which said that Mishra, if granted bail, might influence witnesses.
Ashish, whose car was part of the convoy that ran over eight people, including four protesting farmers, in Uttar Pradesh's Lakhimpur last year, is the prime accused in the murder and conspiracy case.
The Lucknow Bench of Allahabad High Court had granted bail to Ashish in February this year. However, the Supreme Court in April set aside the bail order and had directed the high court to reconsider his bail plea after affording adequate opportunity to the victims' side.
In May, the high court rejected the bail pleas of co-accused Lavkush, Ankit Das, Sumit Jaiswal, and Shishupal.
The Uttar Pradesh Special Investigation Team (SIT), which has been probing the case, said in January that the unrest created at the protest site of the farmers agitating against agricultural laws was a “pre-planned conspiracy,” and not an act of negligence.
The SIT had filed a charge sheet spanning approximately 5,000 pages against the 14 accused in the case.
The SIT had also recommended to the state government to challenge Ashish Mishra's bail, stating that he is an influential person and could tamper with evidence while being out on bail. However, the UP government had not challenged the bail in the Supreme Court. The appeal in the apex court had been filed by the kin of the victims.
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