The Lucknow bench of Allahabad High Court on Tuesday rejected the bail application of Ashis Mishra, the prime accused in the Lakhimpur Kheri massacre and son of Union minister Ajay Mishra ‘Teni’.
An SUV owned by the minister ploughed into a group of farmers returning from a protest on October 3, 2021, killing four farmers and a journalist. Ashis is alleged to have been in the SUV. The incident took place soon after Teni had publicly warned protesting farmers that he would fix them if they did not mend their ways.
The bench of Krishan Pahal said in the order on Tuesday: “Taking into consideration the complicity of the applicant, there being apprehension of the witnesses being influenced, severity of punishment as drawn from the nature and gravity of the accusations, after taking due consideration of the submissions of the parties, and the settled case law of Alister Anthony Pareira (supra), without expressing any opinion on the merits of the case, I do not find it a fit case for bail.”
Pareira was found guilty of running over and killing seven labourers asleep on a pavement in 2006. He was handed a jail term of four and a half years after being found guilty under sections 304 (causing death by negligence) and 338 (causes grievous hurt to any person by doing any act so rashly or negligently as to endanger human life) of the IPC. A fine of Rs 5 lakh was also imposed on him.
Ashis has been booked under IPC sections 307 (attempt to murder), 326
(voluntarily causing grievous hurt), 147 (rioting), 148 (rioting, armed with deadly weapons), 149 (unlawful assembly), 279 (rash driving), 338, 304A, 120B (criminal conspiracy), 34 (acts done by several persons in furtherance of common intention) and sections 30 of the Arms Act (possession of firearms and their illegal use). Punishment for attempt to murder is up to 10 years.
Amarjeet Rakhra, a counsel for a victim, said: “The applicant, who is the son of Union minister of state for home, and who himself is a political person, was a contender on BJP ticket from Nighasen constituency for the Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections held in 2022. The applicant has a criminal history of two more cases in addition to the present case. Learned counsel has stated that the power the applicant yields can be appreciated from the fact that in one of the cases, the applicant has been acquitted, while the other case has been withdrawn by the state government. The character, behaviour, means, position and standing of the accused, when viewed in juxtaposition of the crime in question, is such that releasing him on bail would result in justice being thwarted.”
Rakhra added: “Despite the protection provided to the witnesses, two of them, namely Diljyot Singh and Hardeep Singh, have been assaulted and threatened by the associates and supporters of the applicant (Ashis), warning them to dare depose against the applicant.”
