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.
In a bid to highlight the rising air pollution as well as the serious health hazards faced by the people, a group of organisations, think tanks and civil society groups have joined hands to form 'Clean Air Punjab'.
Few hours after Prime Minister Narendra Modi spoke to West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on the flood situation in the state, the latter wrote a letter to the Prime Minister, describing the flood as a ‘man made one', alleging that the "unprecedented release of water from the Damodar Valley Corporation (DVC) dams Panchet, Maithon and Tenughat" is responsible for the situation.
The incident took place on Sunday night and the victim's family members have alleged that the accused stuffed cloth into the girl's mouth and raped her.
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Tuesday rode a bicycle to the parliament in protest of rise in fuel prices particularly petrol which has crossed Rs 100 per litre mark in various parts of the country.
