Lakhimpur Kheri - 'Will Poor Prisoners Get Relief If Ashish Mishra Is Also In Jail?': Supreme Court Reserves Judgment On Bail Plea

The Supreme Court on Thursday reserved judgment on the petition filed by Ashish Mishra, son of Union Minister Ajay Mishra, seeking bail in the Lakhimpur Kheri case related to the killing of five persons.A bench comprising Justices Surya Kant and JK Maheshwari, during the hearing which lasted for nearly two hours, expressed inclination to grant bail to Mishra, considering his period of custody lasting over a year. The bench also indicated that it might monitor the progress in the trial of the case.The victims vehemently opposed the grant of bail saying that there is no ground to make an exception for Mishra as thousands of other people are languishing in jail as undertrials in murder cases.Justice Kant observed during the hearing that if Asish Mishra is denied bail, it will set a precedent for trial courts and High Courts to not grant bail to poor persons who are in jail in the cross-case."The impact of rejection of bail by this court and setting aside of bail by this court is that- this is the technical experience I have gained so far- the 4, 5 persons in the other case (against the protesters) and 7, 8 persons in this FIR (against Mishra), till the time the trial is concluded, we have serious doubt if any of them will be granted bail by the sessions court or by the High Court....I don’t only see the so-called victim, I also see those who are unable to reach the court. The other victims are those farmers who are languishing in jail. If this court is not granting bail, no court will grant them bail. Who is going to take care of them? How will they get relief if Ashish Mishra is also in jail!?", Justice Kant asked.Last week, the trial court in Uttar Pradesh handling the Lakhimpur Kheri case reported to the Supreme Court that it will take at least 5 years to complete the trial, as there are about 208 witnesses to be examined in the case.Ashish Mishra is facing murder charges for allegedly killing five persons in the Lakhimpur Kheri violence of October 2021 after his vehicle allegedly ran over four farmers who were protesting against farm laws and a journalist.Arguments of Ashish MishraSenior Advocate Mukul Rohatgi, appearing for Mishra, submitted that the complainant in the FIR, one Jagjeet Singh, is not an eyewitness. The senior counsel said that it was the farmers who started the aggression. They pelted stones at the Mahindra Thar car and pulled out the driver. One Jaiswal, who was in the car and witnessed the attack, has given statement to the police in the cross-FIR. The killing of the farmers happened when the vehicle overturned in the farmers' attack.Rohatgi asserted that the eyewitness account of Jaiswal must be preferred over the hearsay account of Jagseet Singh (the complainant in the FIR).The incident was at 3 PM and the mobile tower location details show that Mishra was at a place 4 km away witnessing a wrestling match at the time of occurrence."It is a melee which happened. Some people in the car got killed, some farmers also", Rohatgi said. He also refuted the allegations of Mishra firing at the people as there are no gunshot injuries.He highlighted that bail was granted to Mishra by the High Court in the first instance, which was later cancelled by the Supreme Court. Considering that Mishra had been under custody for over a year, Rohatgi pleaded that he be granted bail.State opposes bailOn the bench asking about the stand of the State of UP, Additional Advocate General Garima Prashad said that the State is "strongly contesting the bail" and supporting the High Court judgment which denied him bail. She pointed out that in chargesheet, 7 witnesses say that they saw Ashish Mishra running from the site.Whether Mishra is guilty or not is a matter for trial court to decide, the bench said while asking the State, "At this stage, we ask, what are your apprehension? Is it your case that he is likely to tamper with the evidence? Is it your case that he will flee from justice?".AAG Prashad said that it is a "grave and heinous crime" and granting bail will send a wrong signal to the society."Regarding grave and heinous crime, there are two versions", Justice Kant said.Victims oppose grant of bailSenior Advocate Dushyant Dave, appearing for the victims in the case, said that as per the law laid down by the Supreme Court for last 75 years, bail cannot be granted to the accused.In murder cases, bail cannot be granted by the Supreme Court when trial court and the High Court have concurrently denied bail, Dave asserted while citing a Constitution Bench judgment of 1986."Supreme Court has no power to grant bail even in cases where gross injustices have been done?", Justice Kant wondered."We are talking about a case where a cold-blooded murder has taken place. I will show from the chargesheet that it is pre-planned and a conspiracy. The Minister(Mishra's father Ajay Mishra) threatened that he will do it""Father is not an accused and he is still in power", Justice Kant replied. "He should have been", came the quick ...

Lakhimpur Kheri - 'Will Poor Prisoners Get Relief If Ashish Mishra Is Also In Jail?': Supreme Court Reserves Judgment On Bail Plea

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