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The Supreme Court on Monday, 21 February, took suo motu cognisance of the Lakhimpur Kheri violence in which farmers were mowed down by a car belonging to Union Minister Ajay Mishra Teni's son Ashish Mishra in October 2021.
The kin of farmers, who were killed in the violence, approached the Supreme Court on Monday, challenging the Allahabad High Court's order granting bail to Ashish Mishra.
Filed through advocate Prashant Bhushan, the plea indicated that the families were forced to move the apex court after the state of Uttar Pradesh failed to file an appeal in the matter.
The victims of the tragedy were obstructed from presenting evidence during the bail hearing, as their counsel was disconnected from the call on 18 January, it added, resulting in them barely making any submissions.
The plea stated that the bail on 10 February was granted without considering in its order "the heinous nature of the crime; the character of the overwhelming evidence against the accused in the chargesheet; position and status of the accused with reference to the victim and witnesses; the likelihood of the accused fleeing from justice and repeating the offence; and the possibility of his tampering with the witnesses and obstructing the course of justice."
Ashish Mishra, whose car was part of the convoy, had been arrested on murder charges.
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