New Delhi: The Supreme Court has granted interim bail for eight weeks to Union Minister Ajay Mishra's son Ashish Mishra in connection with the case related to the killing of farmers in UP's Lakhimpur Kheri.














The Supreme Court has directed Ashish Mishra to inform the concerned court about his location. The Supreme Court also clarified that any attempt by Ashish Mishra or his family to influence witnesses and try to delay the trial may lead to his bail being cancelled.

 

On October 3, 2021, eight people were killed in Lakhimpur Kheri district's Tikunia where violence erupted when farmers were protesting against the then 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 was seated.


Following the incident, the driver of the SUV and two BJP workers were allegedly lynched by angry farmers. A journalist also died in the violence.


The Lucknow bench of the Allahabad High Court had on July 26 last year rejected Ashish Mishra's bail plea.


He had challenged the high court's order in the apex court.


During the hearing on January 19, the top court had observed that an accused should not be incarcerated for an indefinite period unless proven guilty of an offence.


A total of 13 accused, including Ashish Mishra, have been charged under Indian Penal Code (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 alias Satya Prakash Tripathi, Shekhar Bharti, Sumit Jaiswal, Ashish Pandey, Lavkush Rana, Shishu Pal, Ullas Kumar alias Mohit Trivedi, Rinku Rana and Dharmendra Banjara. All of them are in jail.