Supreme Court Allows Ashish Misra To Stay In Lakhimpur Kheri From December 25 To 31

The Court took on record the statement of the UP Additional Advocate General that 789 trials are pending before the same judge who is hearing the case. Considering the same, the bench listed the matter in March 2026.

During the hearing, the discussion steered towards the need for additional courts for hearing trial proceedings, as present judicial officers were facing an extreme workload.

The CJI recalled another matter relating to the constitution of certain specialised courts for MP-MLA/ UAPA/NDPS. He verbally remarked, "why don't you (authorities) think of setting up additional courts then, because it is really impossible for one trial judge to deal with so many trials."

Sr Advocate Siddharth Dave, appearing for Mishra, weighed in to add that even in MP/MLA special courts, the docket is all clogged.

The CJI said that the Central Government has been supportive in boosting additional judicial infrastructure. CJI also referred to an order passed by his bench directing the setting up of special courts which would only hear trial proceedings for matters under special enactments.

" That I am taking care, that matter - there has been a co-operative approach, we could see from the Central Govt also. We directed them to establish and provide us additional infrastructure for the establishment of exclusive courts to deal with MP/MLA and cases under the UAPA, PMLA, NIA and NDPS- those courts will not be assigned any other matter, except of trial."

Dave also urged the Court to consider allowing the petitioner to visit Lakhimpur between December 25 to January 1. The bench allowed the same and ordered :

"Liberty is granted to the petitioner to visit and stay in Lakhimpur Kheri from 25th December to 31st December, subject to the same terms and conditions which were there earlier."

In May, the Court relaxed Mishra's bail conditions and allowed him to visit Lakhimpur Kheri every Saturday evening to spend time with family, subject to the condition that he should return to Lucknow Sunday evening. The Court had added that while in Lakhimpur Kher, Mishra should not participate in any public meeting or political activities and that the visit shall be private only for the family members.

Background

The case involves the killing of five persons in October 2021 in Lakhimpur Kheri, when vehicles of the convoy of Ashish Mishra allegedly ran over a group of farmers who were protesting against the farm laws. The case attracted political controversy as Mishra's father - Ajay Kumar Mishra - was then a Union Minister.

The Supreme Court took suo motu cognizance of the incident and criticized the Uttar Pradesh police for its failure to arrest Ashish Mishra. He was later taken into custody following the Court's criticism.

The Allahabad High Court granted bail to Mishra on February 10, 2022, but it was set aside by the Supreme Court in April 2022 after noting that the High Court took into account irrelevant considerations and ignored relevant factors. The bail application was then remanded to the High Court. The Supreme Court's order came in an appeal filed by the relatives of the farmers who got killed in the incident.

After re-hearing the matter, the High Court dismissed the bail application.

In January 2023, the Supreme Court granted Mishra interim bail for 8 weeks, which was extended from time to time. The order came with a slew of conditions. The interim bail order was later made absolute. The Court permitted Mishra to stay either in Delhi or Lucknow, UP.

In November, 2024, the Court sought Mishra's response on allegations of threatening witnesses in the case. In January this year, the Court directed Superintendent of Police, Lakhimpur to conduct a fact-finding inquiry into the allegations.

Case Title: Ashish Mishra Alias Monu v. State of U.P. SLP(Crl) No. 7857/2022