new Delhi. The Uttar Pradesh government has told the Supreme Court that the decision to file an appeal challenging the bail granted to Ashish Mishra in the Lakhimpur Kheri violence case is pending before the authorities concerned. Refuting allegations that he did not oppose the bail granted to Mishra by the Allahabad High Court in February this year, the Uttar Pradesh government, in a counter affidavit, said that Mishra’s bail application was strongly opposed by it. The UP government said any claim to the contrary in the Special Leave Petition (SLP) filed by the family members of the victims is completely false and deserves to be dismissed.
“Furthermore, the impugned order dated February 10, 2022, the limitation period against the same is still pending and the decision to file SLP against him is under consideration of the authorities concerned,” the affidavit said.
Family members of farmers who were crushed by Mishra’s car in Lakhimpur Kheri had moved the apex court challenging the bail granted to them. He is the son of Union Minister and BJP MP Ajay Kumar Mishra. The families of the victims have claimed that the state has not filed an appeal against the bail granted to Ashish Mishra. The top court is scheduled to hear the matter on Wednesday.
Advocate Prashant Bhushan, representing the family members of the victims, had told the Supreme Court that a witness in the case was attacked and the attackers had threatened him, saying that Mishra was out on bail and the ruling party would also win the election. has gone and he will see them.
Responding to the allegation, the Uttar Pradesh government said that during the course of the investigation a gunner appointed to protect the witness and three independent eyewitnesses of the incident were questioned as per the order of the apex court. The affidavit added that the four persons said that the incident happened due to a sudden dispute between the witness and the attacking party over throwing ‘gulal’ at him.
The top court had on March 16 asked the Uttar Pradesh government to file a detailed affidavit regarding the attack on a witness in the case.
Giving information about the incident, the state government said that on March 10, at around 8.15 pm, the eyewitness came towards the primary school near Danga on a tractor-trolley laden with sugarcane and his police gunner was with him at that time.
Sarkar said the witness protested when some people threw ‘gulal’ at him, leading to an altercation between him and others, in which one miscreant hit him with a belt and others kicked and punched him.
The affidavit said that all the witnesses claimed that none of the miscreants mentioned Mishra or the ruling party winning the election and that the incident was a result of a sudden brawl due to the Holi Gulal controversy and its occurrence on 3 October 2021. has no relation to.
The State Government argued that the attempt by the petitioners in the SLP and application for additional documents linking the two incidents is wholly unwarranted. The government said the accused in the attack on the witness were arrested on March 11 and were granted bail on March 14.
The affidavit further states that as per the orders of the apex court, the families of all the victims and all the witnesses whose statements under section 164 were recorded are getting continued protection under the Witness Protection Scheme 2018.
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 also reconstituted the SIT probing the incident and appointed IPS officer S. B. Shiradkar, was entrusted with the responsibility as its chief.
Mishra was arrested in this case on October 9 last year. Eight people, including four farmers, were killed in clashes during a farmers’ protest at Lakhimpur Kheri on October 3, 2021.
—AnyTV News
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