Supreme Court Grants Bail to Ashish Mishra in Lakhimpur Kheri Case

The Supreme Court on Monday granted bail to Ashish Mishra, son of ex-Union minister Ajay Mishra, in connection with the 2021 Lakhimpur Kheri violence. The court also granted bail to involved farmers and directed the trial court to expedite proceedings, having examined seven out of 117 witnesses so far.

The Supreme Court on Monday granted bail to Ashish Mishra, the son of former Union minister Ajay Mishra, in connection with the 2021 Lakhimpur Kheri violence that resulted in the deaths of eight people. His movements are now restricted to Delhi or Lucknow.

The court had previously granted Mishra interim bail on January 25 last year in what it called the 'unfortunate ghastly incident' of violence. A bench comprising Justices Surya Kant and Ujjal Bhuyan also granted bail to the farmers involved in the case and instructed the trial court to accelerate its proceedings.

'Taking into consideration all the attending circumstances, the interim order is made absolute,' the bench stated, acknowledging that only seven out of 117 witnesses have been examined so far. The court directed the trial court to prioritize the case while managing other time-sensitive matters.

The violence erupted when farmers protested against Uttar Pradesh Deputy Chief Minister Keshav Prasad Maurya's visit to the area. During the incident, four farmers were killed by a sports utility vehicle, leading to the lynching of a driver and two BJP workers by angry farmers, and also resulted in the death of a journalist.

(With inputs from agencies.)