New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Wednesday (November 27) asked Ashish Mishra, son of former Union minister Ajay Mishra and an accused in 2021 Lakhimpur Kheri violence case in which eight persons were killed during protest against now-repealed farm laws, to respond to allegation that witnesses in the case were being threatened by him.
A bench comprising Justice Surya Kant and Justice Ujjal Bhuyan asked senior advocate Siddharth Dave, who appeared for Ashish Mishra, to file an affidavit to clear his stand within four weeks after he denied the allegation of threatening witnesses levelled by an advocate appearing for one of the complainants in the case.
The advocate appearing for one of the complainants in the case told the bench that he has filed a plea saying that witnesses in the case were threatened by Ashish Mishra.
Ashish Mishra’s counsel denied allegation of threatening witnesses
Dave denied the allegation and said, “It is not me. I have the photos. This is not meant for this court and meant for outside. Every time, it is listed something like this comes up,” Dave told the bench.
The bench then told Dave to say this on affidavit and ordered the matter to be listed after four weeks.
Apex Court granted Ashish Mishra regular bail in the case
The top court had granted Ashish Mishra interim bail in the Lakhimpur Kheri violence case on January 25 last year and had imposed certain conditions on him, including not to not to stay either in Uttar Pradesh or in National Capital Region (NCR) during the period and not to enter Uttar Pradesh except for attending the trial. The apex court later granted him regular bail and permitted him to stay either in Delhi or Lucknow. The court has allowed him to visit Lakhimpur Kheri for trial.
8 persons, including 4 farmers, lost their lives in Lakhimpur Khiri violence in 2021
Four farmers were killed in Uttar Pradesh’s Lakhimpur Kheri district on October 3, 2021 when a car allegedly carrying Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) workers mowed them down near Tikonia village during a protest against the Centre’s now-repealed farm laws. It has been alleged that Ashish Mishra was sitting in one of the cars. Two BJP workers and a driver lost their lives in the subsequent violence and a journalist was the eighth victim.
