Ashish Mishra has been in jail since October after the Lakhimpur Kheri incident
New Delhi:
While Union Minister Ajay Mishra Teni’s son Ashish Mishra granted bail last year for the murder of farmers in Uttar Pradesh’s Lakhimpur Kheri, a court today has questioned the charges against him and dismissed the police investigation.
Ashish Mishra had been in prison since October and was released on bail by the local court in Lakhimpur Kheri.
Allahabad Supreme Court bail questions allegations against Ashish Mishra.
“Considering the facts and circumstances of the case as a whole, it is clear that according to the FIR, the role of shooting was assigned to the applicant (Ashish Mishra) for killing the protesters, but during the investigation no such firearm injuries were found on the body of one of the deceased or on the body of an injured person,” the court said.
“Then the prosecution alleged that the applicant had challenged the driver of the vehicle for crushing the protesters, but the driver was killed by the protesters along with two others who were inside the vehicle.”
The court also noted that Ashish Mishra appeared before the investigating officer when he was summoned and that an official report has already been drawn up. “In such circumstances, this Court finds that the applicant is entitled to bail,” the Supreme Court said.
On October 3, Ashish Mishra reportedly drove the Mahindra Thar SUV that ran over four farmers and a journalist in Lakhimpur Kheri during a protest march against three controversial agricultural laws. He was arrested days later.
Videos provoking anger and shock showed an SUV rambling and crushing farmers without a speed interruption. Eight people were killed in Lakhimpur Kheri that day. After the farmers were run over, violence broke out in which three more, including two BJP workers, were killed.
The Supreme Court said it “could not close its eyes to the murder of three people in the Thar SUV, including the driver, who were killed by the protesters”.
Photos “clearly exposed the brutality of the protesters,” the court said, citing the names of the dead: Hariom Mishra, Shubham Mishra and Shyam Sunder.
Noting that only four accused had been charged, the court said protest organizers should help investigators provide details about others who saw BJP workers beating up.
Bail for Ashish Mishra has sparked strong political backlash, with the opposition reviving allegations that the ruling BJP is doing everything it can to protect its own country.
Trinamool Congress MP Mahua Moitra wondered how Ashish Mishra qualified for bail.
3 basic principles of bail are that the accused should NOT be able to:
1. Intimidate Witnesses
2. Destroy Evidence
3. Be Flight RiskHow does Ashish Mishra meet condition 1 of bail? Son of incumbent minister, arrested only after 3 days, at election time?
— Mahua Moitra (@MahuaMoitra) February 10, 2022
In response to the killings of Lakhimpur Kheri and the alleged delay in investigations, the Supreme Court has ordered a special investigation.
Ashish Mishra’s father Ajay Mishra Teni remains a minister in Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government, despite calls for his resignation.
