New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Monday directed the Uttar Pradesh government to conduct an inquiry into the allegations levelled against Ashish Mishra, the son of Union minister Ajay Mishra, that he was influencing witnesses in the 2021 Lakhimpur Kheri violence case.
The matter came up before a bench comprising Justices Surya Kant and N Kotiswar Singh. Advocate Prashant Bhushan, representing the complainants, submitted before the bench that he is in possession of an audio recording, in which it is apparent that an attempt is being made to influence crucial witnesses in the case.
Bhushan argued that Mishra attended a public meeting in violation of bail conditions, and stressed that Mishra is misusing the concession of bail. Senior advocate Siddharth Dave, representing Mishra, refuted Bhushan’s allegations. Dave said his client was being targeted unnecessarily and added that Mishra was in the Lok Sabha Secretariat in Delhi on the day of the said public meeting.
Mishra, in an affidavit, denied these allegations and emphasised that whenever the matter is listed before the court, such averments are made seeking cancellation of his bail. Mishra was granted bail by the apex court.
The bench noted that Bhushan wants to place on record some more material and added, that whether such material is genuine or can be relied upon can be gone into by police. The bench said the police should submit a report in connection with the allegations made in the application seeking cancellation of bail.
After hearing submissions, the bench asked Bhushan and Dave to submit their material to Ruchira Goel, the standing counsel of the Uttar Pradesh government, for handing it over to the Lakhimpur Kheri SP (superintendent of police).
At this juncture, Bhushan said the matter should be examined by a senior officer and pressed that SP is not a very senior officer. Dave said SP is the highest in the district. The bench said SP is also a senior officer. Bhushan said, “he will probably be under the influence and….”. Dave objected to Bhushan's arguments. The bench said now he is not in power and let us also trust the police officers.
The apex court directed the SP Lakhimpur Kheri to file the report in the court after a fact-finding inquiry.
The apex court has scheduled the matter for further hearing after four weeks. The apex court had granted bail to Mishra and restricted his movement to Delhi or Lucknow. On October 3, 2021, eight people, including four farmers, were killed in Tikunia in Lakhimpur Kheri district during a protest by farmers against Deputy Chief Minister Keshav Prasad Maurya's visit to the area.
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