 "Lakhimpur Kheri: SC asks Ashish Mishra to reply to 'threat' allegations")
The Supreme Court on Wednesday directed former Union minister Ajay Mishra's son Ashish Mishra to respond to allegation that witnesses were being threatened in the 2021 Lakhimpur Kheri violence case that claimed eight lives.
A bench of Justices Surya Kant and Ujjal Bhuyan asked senior advocate Siddharth Dave, appearing for Mishra, to file an affidavit clarifying his stand after he refuted the allegations.
At the outset, a counsel appearing for one of the complainants in the case told the court that he has filed a plea in which he has said that witnesses were threatened by Mishra.
Dave denied the allegations and said this is an "endless process".
"It's not me in the photographs. This is not for this court, this is for outside," Dave said.
The top court then asked Mishra to file an affidavit denying the allegations within four weeks.
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On July 22, the top court had granted bail to Ashish Mishra and restricted his movement to Delhi or Lucknow.
On January 25 last year, the top court had given Ashish Mishra interim bail in the "unfortunate ghastly incident".
It had also granted bail to four farmers -- Guruwinder Singh, Kamaljeet Singh, Gurupreet Singh and Vichitra Singh -- in the case and directed the trial court to expedite hearing.
On October 3, 2021, eight people, including four farmers, were killed in Tikunia in Uttar Pradesh's Lakhimpur Kheri district. The violence erupted when farmers were protesting against Deputy Chief Minister Keshav Prasad Maurya's visit to the area.
Four farmers were mowed down by a sports utility vehicle. A driver and two BJP workers were then allegedly lynched by angry farmers. A journalist also died in the violence.
The apex court in February had extended Ashish Mishra's interim bail and asked its registry to obtain a report from the trial court on the progress of the case.
The Supreme Court on January 25 last year had said Ashish Mishra should not stay in Uttar Pradesh or Delhi during the period of interim bail. This was done with a view to avoid any influence on witnesses in the case.
Later, on September 26, the apex court relaxed his bail conditions to enable him to visit and stay in the National Capital Territory to look after his ailing mother and for the treatment of his daughter.
On December 6 last year, the trial court framed charges against Ashish Mishra and 12 others for the alleged offences of murder, criminal conspiracy and under other penal laws in the case of the farmers' deaths, paving the way for the trial to start.