SC to set up bench to hear plea against bail to Ashish Misra in Lakhimpur Kheri case
Darpan News Desk IANS, 15 Mar, 2022 11:52 AM
New Delhi, March 15 (IANS) The Supreme Court on Tuesday said it will constitute a bench to hear on Wednesday a plea filed by the family members of the farmers, mowed by a car belonging to Ashish Misra, in Lakhimpur Kheri challenging bail granted to him by the Allahabad High Court.
Misra is the son of Union Minister and BJP MP Ajay Kumar Misra.
A bench headed by Chief Justice N.V. Ramana said a bench will be constituted, which heard the matter earlier and scheduled the matter for hearing on Wednesday.
Earlier, a bench comprising Chief Justice N.V. Ramana and Justices Surya Kant and Hima Kohli had appointed a former judge of the Punjab and Haryana High Court to monitor the probe.
Advocate Prashant Bhushan, representing some farmers, submitted that there was an attack on one of the prime witnesses in the case. Bhushan claimed people who attacked the witness threatened by saying that now that the BJP has won, they will take care of him. He had submitted that other co-accused are also seeking bail relying on the high court order. In February, a single-judge bench of the high court granted bail to Mishra who had spent four months in custody.
On March 11, the Supreme Court had agreed to list on March 15, a plea filed by the family members of the farmers, mowed by a car belonging to Ashish Misra, in Lakhimpur Kheri challenging bail granted to him by the Allahabad High Court.
The plea contended that the family members were forced to move the apex court since Uttar Pradesh has failed to file an appeal challenging bail granted to Misra.
The plea argued that the high court granted bail without considering the heinous nature of the crime and also in the backdrop of overwhelming evidence against the accused in the charge sheet. The plea further argued that there is likelihood of the accused tampering with the witnesses and causing obstruction in justice.
In November last year, the Supreme Court appointed Justice Rakesh Kumar Jain, a former judge of the Punjab and Haryana High Court, to monitor the Lakhimpur Kheri violence probe. The top court also reconstituted the SIT investigating the incident and appointed IPS officer S.B. Shiradkar, as its head.
Misra was arrested on October 9 last year in the case. On October 3, 2021, eight people, including four farmers, were killed in Lakhimpur Kheri in clashes during a farmers' protest.
He paid homage to the indomitable courage and sacrifice of the Indian Armed Forces personnel during the Kargil conflict in 1999 by laying a wreath at the Dagger War Memorial in Baramulla during a solemn ceremony.
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The farmers have rejected the meagre compensation awarded by the district revenue officers (DROs), who have been designated as competent authority for land acquisitions.
The police recovered a told of 19 vehicles including 12 motorcycles, 6 scooties, and one auto, from their possession. The accused persons of the first gang were identified as Mohit, Sachin and Gaurav, while the second gang members were identified as Wasin and Atul Raghav.
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In his maiden speech after assuming charge here, Sidhu, who shared the stage with Chief Minister Amarinder Singh after a long break, also extended an olive branch to the protesting doctors, nurses, teachers and bus conductors, who have been on roads for their demands.
