Lakhimpur Kheri case: SC grants UP 2 weeks for response on Ashish Mishra's bail plea
Darpan News Desk IANS, 17 Oct, 2022 11:04 AM
New Delhi, Oct 17 (IANS) The Supreme Court on Monday granted two weeks to the Uttar Pradesh government to file its reply on the bail plea filed by Lakhimpur Kheri violence case prime accused Ashish Mishra, the son of Union Minister Ajay Mishra Teni.
A bench of Justices B.R. Gavai and B.V. Nagarathna said it will hear the matter on November 7.
Senior advocate Mukul Rohatgi, representing Mishra, submitted that notice was already issued in the matter.
On July 26, the Allahabad High Court's Lucknow bench declined to entertain Mishra's bail plea.
On April 18, the Supreme Court had cancelled the bail granted to Mishra and directed him to surrender within a week.
A bench headed by Chief Justice N.V. Ramana (retired now) and comprising Justices Surya Kant and Hima Kohli asked the Allahabad High Court to examine afresh whether Mishra should be granted bail or not.
"Instead of looking into aspects such as the nature and gravity of the offence, severity of the punishment in the event of conviction, circumstances which are peculiar to the accused or victims, likelihood of the accused fleeing, likelihood of tampering with the evidence and witnesses, and the impact that his release may have on the trial and the society at large, the High Court has adopted a myopic view of the evidence on the record and proceeded to decide the case on merits," the top court had noted.
It had said that the high court had shown "tearing hurry" in passing the February 10 order, granting bail to Mishra, denying a fair and effective hearing to the victims.
Mishra was arrested on October 9 last year in the case. On October 3, 2021, eight people, including four farmers, were killed in Lakhimpur Kheri in clashes during a farmers' protest.
The family members of the farmers, mowed down by a car belonging to Mishra, in Lakhimpur Kheri had moved the top court challenging bail granted to him.
Accusing the BJP of only serving the corporates, he said the BJP government is committed to serve the industrialists who have already set up silos and other infrastructure because of the farm laws.
Claiming that the Delhi government has not withheld a single penny from the MCD, he alleged that the BJP has used its revenues earned from toll tax and advertisements for "illegal purposes". He also said that the saffron party has floated a tender for medicines, which cannot be procured before December.
An indication in this regard came on Tuesday when his media advisor Raveen Thukral extended an invite to the media for Amarinder Singh's press briefing in Chandigarh.
Concerned over the manner in which Bollywood is being "targeted" by the Narcotics Control Bureau for the past over one year, Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray will write to the Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the issue, Maharashtra Minister Nawab Malik said on Tuesday.
After examining the plea, an order was passed by a bench of Justices A.G. Masih and A.K. Verma to enable the prosecuting agency to proceed as per law, an official statement quoting the office of Advocate General A.P.S. Deol said.
With the financial assistance of the US-based United Sikh Mission, a 525 KW capacity solar power plant was commissioned in the holiest of Sikh shrines, Harmandir Sahib, popularly known as Golden Temple, in Amritsar on Tuesday.
