According to a report, the trial in the Lakhimpur Kheri violence case against accused Ashish Mishra will take five years to complete, the Supreme Court stated on Wednesday. The statements were made by a panel of justices Surya Kant and V Ramasubramanian while hearing Ashish Mishra’s petition appealing an Allahabad High Court ruling that denied him bail in connection with the Lakhimpur Kheri riot case.
According to the report of Additional Sessions Judge Lakhimpur Kheri, the trial will take 5 years to complete because there are 208 witnesses in the case, the bench remarked.
The report was filed in pursuance to the direction issued by the Supreme Court to Additional Sessions Judge at Lakhimpur Kheri to apprise top court how much time the trial of Lakhimpur violence case is likely to take without compromising with other pending matters.
Meanwhile, the Uttar Pradesh government apprised the court that charges have been framed against the accused in the case.
The court sought to know if the co-accused in the case are in custody. Due to the unavailability of the complainant’s counsel in the matter, the court on Wednesday adjourned the matter for January 19, asking the UP government to inform it whether the accused in the matter are still in custody.
The complainant’s counsel, Prashant Bhushan, urged the court to hold the trial on a day-to-day basis and deal with the material witnesses first.
Senior Advocate Mukul Rohatgi represented Mishra in the case.
Ashish Mishra, the son of Union Minister Ajay Mishra, filed a petition with the Supreme Court, contesting the Allahabad High Court’s denial of bail in the Lakhimpur Kheri riots case.
The Allahabad High Court refused bail to Ashish Mishra, the son of Union Minister Ajay Mishra, in the Lakhimpur Kheri violence case on July 26, 2022. The bail was denied by the Allahabad High Court’s Lucknow bench.
The abovementioned order is being challenged in the Supreme Court by Ashish Mishra through lawyer on record T Mahipal.
Four farmers perished in the Lakhimpur case, and the accused and his automobile were present.
This case comes under the category of a heinous crime, said the High Court had said earlier.
Mishra is facing a case of murder for the incident that took place on October 3, 2021, in which eight people, including four farmers, were killed in Lakhimpur Kheri.
Mishra allegedly ran over the farmers who were protesting against the Centre’s three farm laws. He was arrested on October 9 and granted bail in February 2022.
Mishra, again moved to the High Court as its earlier order was set aside by the Supreme Court in April 2022 and had ordered fresh consideration of his bail plea.
The top court, earlier, set aside the Allahabad High Court order dated February 10, 2022, and remitted the matter back to the High Court. The top court had said that the order of the Allahabad High Court cannot be sustained and had to be set aside and the bail bonds of the respondent/accused are cancelled. The court had directed Ashish Mishra to surrender within a week.
Family members of the victims of the Lakhimpur Kheri incident moved the Supreme Court challenging the Allahabad High Court order, which granted bail to Ashish Mishra. The top court cancelled the bail plea of Mishra.
Earlier, the Supreme Court had appointed a committee headed by retired Punjab and Haryana high court judge Rakesh Kumar Jain to monitor the probe into the Lakhimpur Kheri violence.
