The Supreme Court on Monday set aside the Allahabad High Court's February 10 order granting bail to Ashish Mishra, the prime accused in the Lakhimpur Kheri violence case, in which six farmers were mowed down last October. The top court directed Mishra, son of Union Minister Ajay Mishra Teni, to surrender within a week.
A special bench of Chief Justice N V Ramana and justices Surya Kant and Hima Kohli said the high court considered several irrelevant factors and showed "a tearing hurry" in passing the order without giving sufficient time to the victims to oppose the plea.
The top court directed the high court to consider the matter afresh.
Dealing with a plea filed by Jagjeet Singh on behalf of the victims, the court noted that they were denied an effective hearing even though they had an unbridled right to participate in the proceedings. It also pointed out the high court ignored judicial precedents and relied heavily on the contents of the FIR to pick holes in the prosecution story and subsequently, grant bail.
Also Read — Lakhimpur Kheri case: SC objects to HC relying on 'irrelevant' details to grant bail to prime accused
The high court, in its order, had referred to the post-mortem reports to point out there was no bullet injury to the deceased, contrary to the claims in the FIR.
Justice Kant, who pronounced the judgement on behalf of the bench, said the FIR cannot be treated as an encyclopedia of events as has been held previously by the top court. The court said the high court's order can not be sustained in such circumstances.
Senior advocate Dushyant Dave, who appeared for the victims, asked the bench to request the Chief Justice of the Allahabad High Court not to place the matter before the same bench for considering it afresh.
The bench, however, refused to pass such an order.
Mishra was arrested on October 9, after the top court took into consideration a letter petition filed with regard to the October 3, 2021 incident.
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