The key accused in Lakhimpur Kheri case is Ashish Mishrawho failed to get any relief from the Lucknow Bench of Allahabad High Court which was hearing his fresh bail petition after the Supreme Court had cancelled his bail setting aside the earlier order of the Allahabad High Court which had granted him bail in February this year.
The issue is combination of incident of speech gone wrong of which even court has taken note of and the ensuing murder. The right to protest peacefully is enshrined in the Indian Constitution—Article 19(1)(a) guarantees the freedom of speech and expression; Article 19(1)(b) assures citizens the right to assemble peaceably and without arms. Protest has been creating ecosystem of road blocks and often lead to unfortunate incidents of violence. However, in this matter, Allahabad high court explicitly noted that the incident could have been avoided had Union minister and Bharatiya Janata Party leader Ajay Mishra not made alleged utterances earlier. Four farmers were killed on October 3 after a vehicle connected with Ajay Mishra’s son, Ashish, ran them over as alleged in complaint.
September 2021, Ajay Mishra Teni, a BJP leader and the Minister of State for Home Affairs was attending an event in the Palia town of Lakhimpur Kheri district. During the event, the farmer union members had shown black flags as a sign of protest. The newspaper reported that the minister had warned the protesting farmer union members in his speech.
October 3, 2021: hundreds of farmers in the Tikonia area of Lakhimpur Kheri district were returning after staging protests as part of the 2020-2021 Indian farmers’ protest against the three farm laws. The protestors were blocking state deputy chief minister Keshav Prasad Maurya’s visit to Banbirpur village.The protestors walking on the road were hit and ran over from behind by a speeding Mahindra Thar, a SUV car. Two other vehicles in the convoy quickly followed the first car and crushed the injured who were lying on the ground. According to witnesses, gunshots were also fired. The protesters torched the Thar and Fortuner cars and killed three of its occupants, while the driver of the third car in the convoy, a Scorpio, fled the site with his car. A murder case has been registered against Mishra’s son and several others.
Investigation: Two First information reports (FIR) on the incident were filed in the Tikunia police station.The complainant alleged that the event was ‘premeditated’ and a “conspiracy was hatched by the minister” and his son. Ashish Mishra, along with around 20 unnamed men, was accused and charged with murder, criminal conspiracy, rash driving, and rioting among others. The charges listed in the FIR were Indian Penal Code sections 147, 148, 149 (all three related to rioting), 279 (rash driving), 338 (causes grievous hurt to any person by doing any act so rashly or negligently as to endanger human life), 304A (causing death by negligence), 302 (murder), and 120B (party to a criminal conspiracy).
November 17, 2021: the Supreme Court had taken cognizance of the matter when a letter petition was sent to it. They had appointed former judge of the Punjab and Haryana High Court Justice Rakesh Kumar Jain to monitor the probe by an SIT constituted by Uttar Pradesh.
Lucknow Bench of Allahabad High Court: Following an investigation and charge sheet was filed, the Lucknow bench of the Allahabad High Court granted Ashish Mishra bail on February 10, 2022, and said that though he was accused of inciting the driver of a vehicle to run over the protesters, the driver and two co-passengers were also killed allegedly by protesters. Given that there were protests, the driver might have speeded up the vehicle to save himself, the court had reasoned. In this context, it also added that the killing of the driver and the co-passengers could not be overlooked.
Supreme Court: The kin of some of the victims thereafter approached the Supreme Court contending that they were not heard when Ashish’s bail application was taken up by the High Court. The Supreme Court had already set aside the Allahabad High Court order granting bail to the Lakhimpur Kheri case accused Ashish Mishra, son of Union minister Ajay Mishra. A bench of Chief Justice N V Ramana, Justice Surya Kant and Justice Hima Kohli asked him to surrender within a week. The Apex court also remanded the matter back to the high court to consider afresh whether Mishra should be given bail or not after affording the victims’ families a hearing.
Surrender before Police: Ashish Mishra, in compliance with the Supreme Court order, had surrendered in Lakhimpur Kheri on April 24 and was sent to jail.
