Lakhimpur Case: The High Court had granted bail to Ashish Mishra in February.
new Delhi:
“There is no flight risk”, the Uttar Pradesh government today told the Supreme Court on a plea challenging the bail of Ashish Mishra, son of Union minister Ajay Mishra Teni, accused of crushing farmers in Lakhimpur Kheri.
Stating that the crime was serious, the UP government also argued that there could have been “no tampering” since the security had been provided to the witnesses.
Ashish Mishra is not a repeat offender, said UP. “If he was a repeat offender, he should not be granted bail,” said the state government, represented by Mahesh Jethmalani.
The Supreme Court had asked UP to respond to the Special Investigation Team’s report recommending cancellation of bail.
Ashish Mishra’s counsel told the judges that if the Supreme Court canceled his bail, “no other court would touch the matter”.
After arguments, the Supreme Court on February 10 reserved its order on a petition challenging the bail granted to Ashish Mishra by the Allahabad High Court.
The bail was challenged by families of farmers who were run over by an SUV allegedly driven by Ashish Mishra on October 3 last year in protest against three controversial agriculture laws.
Chief Justice NV Ramana said, “We cannot compel you to file an appeal against the bail. What is your stand?”
The UP government told the Supreme Court that it had argued before the high court that it was a serious offense and that “no words were enough to condemn the crime”.
On behalf of the UP government, Jethmalani said, “The crime is serious. Whether the offense was intentional or not can be investigated only at the trial stage. The intent of the crime is a subtle matter, to be discussed only at the trial stage.” might.”
UP said it had protested “vigorously” before the Allahabad High Court.
“The High Court granted bail despite our pleas. People died due to a vehicle rammed into it. The issue is not bullet injury.”
While granting bail to Ashish Mishra, the High Court had questioned some of the charges listed by the police, including firing on the protesters.
“Given the full facts and circumstances of the case, it is clear that as per the FIR, the applicant (Ashish Mishra) was assigned the role of firing for killing the protesters, but during the investigation, no such firearm injury was found. were found either on the body of a deceased or on the body of an injured person,” the court had said.
On October 3, eight people were killed in Lakhimpur Kheri. Three more, including BJP workers, were killed in the violence that followed, after the convoy of the Union minister’s son crushed four farmers and a journalist.
The families of the farmers said that Ashish Mishra’s bail should be canceled as he is a threat to the witnesses. He alleged that a witness was attacked in March and the attackers had made threats citing the BJP’s victory in the recent UP elections.