Lakhimpur Kheri case: SC to pronounce order on Wednesday on Ashish Mishra bail plea
Darpan News Desk IANS, 24 Jan, 2023 11:27 AM
New Delhi, Jan 24 (IANS) The Supreme Court would pronounce its order on Wednesday on the bail plea of Ashish Mishra, key accused in the 2021 Lakhimpur Kheri violence case and son of Union Minister Ajay Kumar Mishra.
According to the cause list uploaded on the apex court website, a bench comprising Justices Surya Kant and J.K. Maheshwari will pronounce the order on January 25.
The apex court had reserved its order on Mishra's plea on January 19.
Additional Advocate General for Uttar Pradesh Garima Prashad opposed Mishra's bail plea. She had submitted that it was a grave and heinous crime and granting bail will send a wrong signal to society.
Senior advocate Dushyant Dave, appearing for those opposing the bail plea, said grant of bail will send a terrible message to society.
"It is a conspiracy and a well-planned murder. I will show it from the charge sheet. He is the son of a powerful man being represented by a powerful lawyer," he said.
Senior advocate Mukul Rohatgi, appearing for Mishra, strongly opposed Dave's submission, saying: "What is this? Who is powerful? We are appearing every day. Can this be a condition to not grant bail?"
He submitted that his client has been in custody for more than a year and the way the trial is going, it will take seven to eight years to complete it.
He said that Jagjit Singh, who is the complainant in the case, is not an eyewitness and his complaint is just based on hearsay.
"Jagjit Singh is the complainant and he is not an eyewitness. I am surprised that when there are many people saying we ran over people mercilessly, an FIR is registered on the version of a person who is not an eyewitness?" Rohatgi said, adding that his client is not a criminal and there are no past records.
On October 3, 2021, eight people were killed in Lakhimpur Kheri district's Tikunia in a violence that erupted when farmers were protesting against UP Deputy Chief Minister Keshav Prasad Maurya's visit to the area.
According to the Uttar Pradesh Police FIR, four farmers were mowed down by an SUV, in which Ashish Mishra was seated.
Following the incident, a driver and two BJP workers were allegedly lynched by angry farmers. A journalist also died in the violence.
On December 6 last year, a trial court had framed charges against Mishra and 12 others for the alleged offences of murder, criminal conspiracy and others in the case of death of the protesting farmers in Lakhimpur Kheri, paving the way for the start of the trial.
A total of 13 accused, including Mishra, have been charged under IPC sections 147 and 148 related to rioting, 149 (unlawful assembly), 302 (murder), 307 (attempt to murder), 326 (voluntarily causing grievous hurt by dangerous weapons or means), 427 (mischief) and 120B (punishment for criminal conspiracy), and section 177 of the Motor Vehicle Act.
The other 12 accused are Ankit Das, Nandan Singh Bisht, Latif Kale, Satyam a.k.a Satya Prakash Tripathi, Shekhar Bharti, Sumit Jaiswal, Ashish Pandey, Lavkush Rana, Shishu Pal, Ullas Kumar Trivedi, Rinku Rana and Dharmendra Banjara.
The allegations against Sisodia is that liquor businessmen were allegedly given exemption of Rs 30 crore. The licence holders were allegedly given extension according to their own will. The policy rules were made by violating excise rules.
According to the information received from the authority, the capacity of a tanker is about 10,000 litres. In such a situation, 45 lakh litres of water has been used so far. Work is still going on at many places. As thick layer of dust had accumulated all around, especially in the surrounding green belt, work for removing it from the trees and roads is in full swing.
The victim, Sachin Kashyap, was rushed to a district hospital, from where he was taken to a specialised medical centre in Bareilly. His condition is said to be critical. SHO of Sadar Bazar, Amit Pandey said an FIR has been registered against the accused, Nadeem Khan, 27 and his brother Naeem, 29.
The revised transportation policy mandates, for the first time ever, the installation of vehicle tracking systems in every vehicle used for transportation of food grains procured by the government.
Besides Bishnoi and Jaggu Bhagwanpuria, the others who have been named in the charge sheet include Manmohan Mohana, Deepak Tinu, Sandeep Kekda, Ankit Sirsa, Priyavrat Fauji, Sachin Bhiwani, Keshav, Kashish, Manpreet Manu, and Jagroop Roopa.
Her 16-year-old daughter, Yashodhara, lit the funeral pyre amid the presence of a large number of people and leaders who turned up to pay their last respects. The family demanded a probe into her death at a resort in Goa by the CBI.
