new Delhi. The Supreme Court on Wednesday asked the counsel for the Uttar Pradesh government to ensure security of witnesses in the Lakhimpur Kheri violence case and agreed to examine a petition filed by the family members of farmers driven by Ashish Mishra’s car, in which Allahabad He was granted bail by the High Court. The bench said that it will issue notice in this matter.
Mishra is the son of Union Minister and BJP MP Ajay Kumar Mishra.
Senior advocate Dushyant Dave, representing the family members, submitted before a bench headed by Chief Justice NV Ramana that on March 10, a protected witness was attacked in the case and the state government had challenged the bail granted to Mishra. Appeal was not filed for
“What is this? There is a special mention that a witness has been attacked. File a detailed counter-affidavit,” the Chief Justice told the counsel for the Uttar Pradesh government.
The Chief Justice insisted that the UP government should ensure that there is protection of witnesses in the case.
Initially, Dave criticized the High Court order granting bail to Mishra, despite there being sufficient material to link Mishra to the incident. A bench of Justice Surya Kant and Justice Hima Kohli posted the matter for next hearing on March 24.
On March 15, the Supreme Court said that a bench would be constituted, which first heard the matter and fixed the matter for Wednesday.
Advocate Prashant Bhushan, representing some farmers, said one of the key witnesses in the case was attacked. Bhushan claimed that those who attacked the witness threatened him saying that now that the BJP has won, they will take care of him. He had submitted that other co-accused were also seeking bail on the basis of the High Court order. In February, a single-judge bench of the High Court had granted bail to Mishra, who had spent four months in custody.
The plea said that the family members were forced to approach the apex court as Uttar Pradesh has failed to file an appeal challenging the bail granted to Mishra.
The plea argued that the High Court granted the bail without considering the heinous nature of the offense and in the background of overwhelming evidence against the accused in the charge sheet. The petition further argued that the accused is likely to tamper with the witnesses and create obstruction in justice.
In November last year, the Supreme Court appointed former Punjab and Haryana High Court judge, Justice Rakesh Kumar Jain, to oversee the Lakhimpur Kheri violence probe. The top court ordered IPS officer S.B. Shiradkar, as its chief, also reconstituted the SIT probing the incident.
—AnyTV News
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