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The Supreme Court will deliver on Monday its verdict on a plea challenging bail to Ashish Mishra, son of union minister Ajay Mishra Teni, who is a murder accused in the Lakhimpur Kheri violence case.
A bench headed by Chief Justice NV Ramana had last week reserved its order after hearing all concerned parties. The court had been told by the Uttar Pradesh government that while the ‘alleged offences are serious’, the accused is ‘not at flight risk’. The state also promised that witnesses had been provided security – a claim contested by the petitioners’ lawyers.
Ashish Mishra was given bail by the Allahabad High Court on February 10 – a decision that triggered a huge political row ahead of elections in the state, with the families of the victims, civil society activists and opposition parties claiming the ruling BJP was protecting its own.
The plea challenging his bail was filed by Jagjit Singh, Pawan Kashyap and Sukhwinder Singh – family members of those killed in the violence in Lakhimpur.
Earlier the UP government told the court it had taken necessary efforts to protect witnesses and their families. The court was told the police is in regular contact with them.
However, advocate Prashant Bhushan, appearing for the petitioner, pointed out that one of the ‘protected’ witnesses had been attacked, a few days after Ashish Mishra got bail.
The UP government also told the court it had, in fact, argued against the High Court’s decision to grant bail to Ashish Mishra and the petitioners’ submission in this instance – that it did not effectively oppose bail – is completely untrue.
Eight people were killed in UP’s Lakhimpur Kheri on October 3 after violence erupted during a farmers’ protest against deputy chief minister Keshav Prasad Maurya’s visit to the area.
Four farmers were mowed down by an SUV, in which Ashish Mishra was sitting, according to a police FIR.
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