Close X
Wednesday, December 4, 2024
ADVT 
India

Lakhimpur Kheri case: UP govt opposes Union minister's son's bail in SC

Darpan News Desk IANS, 19 Jan, 2023 11:32 AM
  • Lakhimpur Kheri case: UP govt opposes Union minister's son's bail in SC

Lucknow, Jan 19 (IANS) In a surprise move, the Uttar Pradesh government, on Thursday, opposed the bail plea of Union Minister Ajay Kumar Mishra's son, who is one of the accused in the Lakhimpur Kheri violence case, in the Supreme Court.

Additional Advocate General for Uttar Pradesh Garima Prasad told a bench of Justice Surya Kant and Justice J.K. Maheshwari that the crime is "grave".

"It is a grave and heinous crime and (granting bail) will send a wrong signal to society," she said when asked for reasons to oppose the bail plea.

"We are taking prima facie view that he is involved and he is an accused and not innocent. Is it the state's case that he has attempted to destroy evidence?" the bench asked.

The court said about the grave and heinous crime there are two versions and it cannot comment on any of the versions.

The additional advocate general replied, "That has not happened till now."

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 the accused Ashish Mishra, strongly opposed Dave's submission and said, "What is this? Who is powerful? We are appearing every day. Can this be a condition to not grant bail?"

Rohatgi 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 pointed out that Jagjeet 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.

It may be recalled that 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 Ashish 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 Ashish 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.

All of them are in jail.

MORE India ARTICLES

Pakistan-based gangster's operative held in Punjab

Pakistan-based gangster's operative held in Punjab
The arrested person has been identified as Anmoldeep Soni, a resident of Harike Pattan in Tarn Taran. The police have also recovered 103 gm heroin from his possession. Last week the police had arrested three accomplices of Landa and Rinda, including Nachhatar Singh, alias Moti, who is the prime accused in the case of planting an improvised explosive device (IED) in Kurukshetra in Haryana.

Pakistan-based gangster's operative held in Punjab

Delta variant of coronavirus could evade immune system, finds study

Delta variant of coronavirus could evade immune system, finds study
In this study published in Microbiology Spectrum journal, the researchers found that the immune system could not produce the defence molecules against the Delta variant as effectively as the other variants. While infection due to the other four variants alerted the immune system quickly, the Delta variant could silently replicate in the host cells.

Delta variant of coronavirus could evade immune system, finds study

240 caught red-handed for misbehaving with women during Ganesh festival in Hyd

240 caught red-handed for misbehaving with women during Ganesh festival in Hyd
SHE teams, a division of Telangana Police for enhanced safety and security of women, caught these men red-handed while misbehaving with women by touching them inappropriately, stalking them and taking their pictures near Ganesh pandals across the city.

240 caught red-handed for misbehaving with women during Ganesh festival in Hyd

Vyapam case: Candidate, aide sentenced to jail for impersonation

Vyapam case: Candidate, aide sentenced to jail for impersonation
The court awarded jail term to Jitendra Kumar Jatav (candidate) and Gulab Singh Patel (solver) besides slapping a fine of Rs 13,100 on each of them. The CBI had registered the case on August 4, 2015 in compliance of the order of the Supreme Court. The FIR was registered against the accused and others at Dehat police station in Bhind on charges of impersonation.

Vyapam case: Candidate, aide sentenced to jail for impersonation

Spring Dale School in Amritsar receives bomb threat

Spring Dale School in Amritsar receives bomb threat
The threat came four days after the DAV Public School got a similar threat, which later proved to be a prank made by three students of the school. A message uploaded on social media on Monday evening read that there would be a blast in Spring Dale School on September 16 .

Spring Dale School in Amritsar receives bomb threat

Gold worth over Rs 5 crore seized at Mumbai airport, 6 Sudanese nationals arrested

Gold worth over Rs 5 crore seized at Mumbai airport, 6 Sudanese nationals arrested
The official said that the group of 23 Sudanese gathered and attempted to clear the green channel by creating ruckus and divert attention of the customs officers. "The Sudanese passengers deliberately created a ruckus at customs arrival area through visible signs and acts of aggression including shouting at the officers and even indulging in physical bouts," the official said.

Gold worth over Rs 5 crore seized at Mumbai airport, 6 Sudanese nationals arrested