Lakhimpur Kheri violence: Supreme Court directs Ashish Mishra to respond to allegation of threatening witnesses

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.

New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Wednesday directed former Union minister Ajay Mishra's son Ashish Mishra to respond to an allegation that witnesses were being threatened in the Lakhimpur Kheri violence case related to mowing down of eight people, including four farmers, on October 3, 2021.

A bench of Justices Surya Kant and Ujjal Bhuyan told his counsel to file an affidavit within four weeks as a counsel, representing one of the complainants, contended before the bench that he had filed a plea claiming that witnesses were threatened by Mishra.

Senior advocate Siddharth Dave, representing Mishra, denied the allegations and said this is an "endless process". He asserted that it is not his client in the photographs.

The bench asked Dave to clarify his stand by filing the affidavit.

The apex court had earlier on July 22 granted bail to Ashish Mishra and restricted his movement to Delhi or Lucknow. The apex court 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 the hearing.

The violence in Lakhimpur Kheri erupted when farmers were protesting against Deputy Chief Minister Keshav Prasad Maurya's visit to the area. Four farmers were mowed down by a vehicle. A driver and two BJP workers were then allegedly lynched by angry farmers. A journalist also died in the violence.

On January 25, 2023, the top court had given Ashish Mishra interim bail in the "unfortunate ghastly incident".