Lakhimpur case: SIT wrote Uttar Pradesh government to move SC for cancelation of bail of Ashish Mishra

Ashish Mishra. File Pic

The SIT, probing the Lakhimpur Kheri violence that had left eight people, including four farmers dead, wrote twice to the Uttar Pradesh government urging it to file an appeal in the Supreme Court seeking cancellation of bail to Ashish Mishra, son of Union minister Ajay Mishra, in the case.

The revelation has been made in a report which was filed by Justice Rakesh Kumar Jain, a former judge of the Punjab and Haryana High Court who is monitoring the special investigation team (SIT) probe into the violence, in the apex court.

A special bench headed by Chief Justice N V Ramana, meanwhile, on Monday reserved its verdict on a separate plea by farmers seeking cancellation of the bail granted to Ashish Mishra in the case.

"The head of SIT wrote to the Additional Chief Secretary, Home Department, Uttar Pradesh on February 10 and February 14, 2022, respectively requesting an urgent appeal in the Supreme Court for cancellation of bail of the accused in view of the ongoing investigation... and the possibility of the threat to the witnesses including 98 witnesses who are provided protection in view of the order dated October 26, 2021, passed by this Hon'ble Court," Justice Jain said in the report.
A single-judge bench of the high court, on February 10, had granted bail to Mishra who had spent four months in custody.

The report also said the SIT has recorded 208 statements of "complainant, eye-witnesses, injured persons and formal witnesses" and the process of framing charges against the accused is going on in the District and Sessions judge at Lakhimpur.

The top court, on November 17, last year, had appointed Justice Jain to monitor the probe by Uttar Pradesh SIT which had also got three IPS officers who were not natives of the state.

In the reconstituted SIT, the top court had ordered the induction of IPS officers -- S B Shiradkar, Padmaja Chauhan, and Preetinder Singh.

Shiradkar, an IPS officer of the 1993 batch from Maharashtra, who was then serving as ADG Intelligence in Uttar Pradesh, was asked to head the SIT which was also asked to file a report before the apex court.

The SIT in its report also said that the presence of key accused Ashish Mishra and others at the scene of the crime is substantiated.

Thirteen accused had gone to the scene of the crime in a "premeditated manner", using three vehicles in a convoy and driving them at a very high speed on a narrow road that was full of people gathered to protest, it said.

The report referred to the fact that the administration had changed the route of the Deputy Chief Minister in view of the protest and Mishra and other accused were aware of the decision, it said.

Referring to the probe, the report said the accused escaped by firing their weapons in the air to scare away the protestors after the commission of the offence and the forensic reports confirm the use of firearms.

It also said that in compliance with the apex court's direction, 98 witnesses were provided security by the state police.
Statements of 99 witnesses before judicial magistrates under section 164 of the CrPC were recorded by the SIT, the report said.

On October 3 last year, eight people were killed in Lakhimpur Kheri during violence that erupted when farmers were protesting against Uttar Pradesh Deputy Chief Minister Keshav Prasad Maurya's visit to the area.

Four farmers were mowed down by an SUV, in which Ashish Mishra was seated, according to the UP Police FIR. Following the incident, the driver and two BJP workers were allegedly lynched by angry farmers.

A journalist also died in the violence that triggered outrage among opposition parties and farmer groups agitating over the Centre's now-repealed agricultural reform laws.

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