In view of Ashish Mishra's 8 Weeks bail Allahabad HC Grants Interim Bail To 8 others in Lakhimpur violence case
The court allowed interim bail to the accused persons on the same terms and conditions as has been imposed upon key accused Ashish Mishra by the Apex Court.
On the ground of parity with the co-accused Ashish Mishra, the Allahabad High Court has recently granted interim bail till March 20 to eight other accused persons in the Lakhimpur violence case. Mishra, who is a key accused in the case, was granted interim bail of 8 weeks by the Supreme Court last month.
The bench of Justice Rajesh Singh Chauhan allowed the interim bail pleas when the counsel for the accused persons informed the court that the Apex Court has granted interim bail to the accused of both sides inasmuch cross FIRs had been lodged in the issue in question.
Therefore, without going into the merit of the case and considering the order dated January 25, 2023, passed by the Apex Court, court allowed interim relief to the accused persons till the next date of listing i.e. March 20, 2023.
Accused in the matter, namely, Nandan Singh Bisht, Ankit Das, Latif alias Kale, Satyam Tripathi alias Satya Prakash Tripathi, Shekhar Bharti, Ashish Pandey, Rinkoo Rana and Sumit Jaisawal had filed their respective bail plea before the high court. The applications had been tagged by the court and were being heard together.
It is to be noted that in May 2022, the high court had rejected the bail pleas of accused Lavkush, Ankit Das, Sumit Jaiswal, and Shishupal noting that the apprehension of the prosecution of them tampering with the evidence and influencing the witnesses could not be ruled out.
The bench of Justice Dinesh Kumar Singh had then also taken note of the report of the Forensic Science Laboratory which revealed that several rounds were fired from the weapons recovered from the possession of accused Ashish Mishra (one rifle and one revolver), Ankit Das (one pistol), Lateef @ Kale (One Pump Action Gun 12 Bore), and Satyam Tripathi (one revolver).
The pleas pertains to the Lakhimpur Kheri violence of October 3, 2021, in which a vehicle rammed into a farmers’ protest against the three farm laws passed by the Union Government, killing two BJP workers, a driver and a journalist.
On the basis of a complaint filed by one Jagjeet Singh, a native of Bahraich district, the Uttar Pradesh Police then registered an FIR against Ashish Mishra alias Monu and 15-20 ‘unknown persons’.
Mishra who is son of Union Minister of State for Home Affairs Ajay Kumar Mishra 'Teni', is the key accused in the case against whom it is alleged that it was he who had asked his driver and others to mow down the protesting farmers.
The Top Court allowed interim bail to Mishra in view of the long time which the trial in the case may take up. During the hearing in Mishra's bail plea, the Supreme Court was informed that the trial in the case might take 5 years to conclude.
The case is being investigated by a Special Investigation Team which is being monitored by Justice (Retd) Rakesh Kumar Jain of Punjab and Haryana High Court.
The UP Police in January last year filed an exhaustive chargesheet running into 5000 pages before the District Court in the Lakhimpur Kheri violence case(s) and the trial is pending before the local court.
Case Title: Nandan Singh Bisht v. State Of U.P. and Connected matters
Statutes: Indian Penal Code