Uttar Pradesh: The Lucknow bench of the Allahabad High Court on Thursday granted bail to Ashish Mishra, the prime accused in the Lakhimpur Kheri violence. A vehicle had allegedly mowed down farmers, who were protesting against the farm laws on October 3.
Local farmers had blamed Union Minister of State for Home Affairs Ajay Mishra Teni and his son Ashish Mishra for the violence that left eight dead, including four farmers, a local journalist, and three others. They were knocked down allegedly by a vehicle that was part of the convoy of the Minister in Lakhimpur Kheri in north-central Uttar Pradesh.
The Special Investigative Team has indicted the prime accused Ashish Mishra in its charge sheet filed before the Chief Judicial Magistrate Court in the Lakhimpur Kheri violence. It said the four farmers and the journalist were killed in the violence as part of a "pre-planned conspiracy". The charge sheet noted that the deaths "did not happen due to negligence or callousness" and that the accused person's actions were "deliberate with an intention to kill".
While leaving Ashish Mishra with one personal bond and two sureties, Lucknow bench of the Allahabad High Court said that he will not be allowed to leave Uttar Pradesh without its permission. The bench also made some observations about the case. If we take the prosecution's narrative at face value, it is clear that thousands of protesters were present at the scene. So, the driver might have been driving fast just to escape from the place and unintentionally caused the accident, said the bench.
The photographs in the case diary reveal how mercilessly the protesters killed the drivers Hariom Mishra, Shubham Mishra and Shyam Sundar. The murder of those three cannot be ignored, observed the bench.
The Lucknow Bench of Allahabad HC criticized the Kheri administration for letting innocent people protest for political gains when Section 144 was already in place.
