Supreme Court granted eight-week interim bail to Lakhimpur Kheri violence accused

Today, the Supreme Court bench comprising Justice JK Maheshwari and Justice Surya Kant granted eight-week interim bail to Ashish Mishra, the 2021 Lakhimpur Kheri violence accused. The bail was granted on the condition that the accused will not stay either in Uttar Pradesh or Delhi during the period of interim bail and was ordered to leave the State (Uttar Pradesh) within one week of interim bail. The bench further added that the bail will be canceled if there is any attempt by the Mishra family to influence the witness.

On October 3, 2021, a total of eight people were killed in the Lakhimpur Kheri violence including four farmers, one driver, one journalist (Raman Kashyap who was a tehsil correspondent with the channel Sadhna Plus News), and two BJP workers. Ashish Mishra, son of Union Minister Ajay Mishra, allegedly ran over the farmers during the protest. Initially, the Allahabad High Court granted bail to Mishra on February 10, 2022, which was set aside by the top Court because of ignored relevant factors and irrelevant considerations regarding the case by the High Court. The bail application was sent back to the High Court which was further dismissed.

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The case was presented before the Supreme Court bench reserving judgment on the bail plea after hearing Additional Advocate General Garima Prashad, Senior Advocate Dushyant Dave, and Senior Advocate Mukul Rohtagi. While hearing the case on January 19th, 2023, the State of UP stated that the crime was ‘grave and heinous’, thus opposing the bail application. 

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