Lucknow: The Lucknow bench of the Allahabad High Court denied Monday bail to the four prime accused in the October 2021 Lakhimpur Kheri violence case. The high court bench of Justice DK Singh rejected the bail pleas of Ankit Das, Lavkush, Sumit Jaiswal and Shishupal. It also observed that the incident might not have occurred if the Union Minister of State for Home Ajay Mishra Teni did not make alleged utterances threatening farmers to chase them out of the district.
The high court said political persons should not make irresponsible statements. They are expected to conduct themselves in accordance with their status and the dignity of the high office they hold, the bench added.
The Allahabad High Court also emphasised that lawmakers cannot be seen as lawbreakers. It pointed out that it is difficult to believe that the Deputy Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh was unaware that provisions of Section 144 CrPC. were clamped and any assembly or gathering was prohibited.
Notably, the court praised the special investigation team (SIT) for conducting a free, fair, impartial, and scientific investigation into the crime.
Also read: SC cancels Ashish Mishra’s bail in Lakhimpur Kheri case, asks him to surrender
The high court bench noted that the charge sheet revealed overwhelming evidence against the accused-applicant and co-accused for the commission of the heinous, diabolic, brutal, barbaric, depraved, gruesome, and inhumane crime.
The court also observed that because the accused-applicant and the main accused, Ashish Mishra, come from very powerful political families, the prosecution’s fear of them interfering with the course of justice, tampering with evidence, and influencing witnesses cannot be ruled out at this stage. So the bail pleas of all four accused have been dismissed.
Ashish was arrested in the October 3, 2021 Lakhimpur Kheri violence case. A total of eight people, including four farmers and a journalist, were killed and several others were injured when a convoy of SUVs, allegedly owned by his father Minister Ajay Mishra, had mowed down four farmers.