Refuting charges made in the Supreme Court by petitioners, the Uttar Pradesh government filed an affidavit stating that they “vehemently opposed” the bail plea filed by Ashish Mishra – main accused in the Lakhimpur Kheri case.
“… Bail application (of Ashish Mishra) was vehemently opposed by the State, and any averments to the contrary in the SLP are completely false and merit to be rejected.”Counter-affidavit filed by Joint Secretary to the Home Department of the UP Government
However, the state also submitted that their own decision to file a special leave petition challenging the High Court’s bail order in favour of Mishra is “pending consideration before the relevant authorities.”
The State further went on to claim that the purported attack on one of the protected witnesses in the case, in Lakhimpur Kheri, on 10 March, is “not related at all” with the original case (in which Mishra is an accused).
“See that witnesses are protected,” Chief Justice of India NV Ramana had told the state counsel for Uttar Pradesh on 16 March. The CJI had also asked for a detailed counter to the allegations of the attack on a “protected witness” in the Lakhimpur Kheri case.
HOW THE STATE REFUTED CLAIMS BY A 'PROTECTED WITNESS' ATTACKED IN LAKHIMPUR KHERI
The state government cited the gunman of the protected witness, as well as three independent eye-witnesses, as claiming:
“… none of the miscreants mentioned either the Respondent No 1 (Mishra) or the ruling party winning the elections, and that the incident was a result of a sudden altercation due to the dispute over Hali Gulal, and had no relation to the incident of 3 October.”
“Thus, the attempt by the Petitioners in the SLP and Application for Additional Documents to conflate and connect the two incidents is completely unwarranted,” the state government said.
CASE AGAINST ASHISH MISHRA
Eight people, including four farmers, were killed on 3 October 2021, in UP’s Lakhimpur Kheri region after being run over by a convoy of cars.
Union Minister and BJP leader Ajay Mishra’s son Ashish Mishra, whose car was part of the convoy, had subsequently been charged with murder in connection with the case.
The Allahabad High Court had, however, earlier in February, granted bail to Mishra in the case.
DETAILS FROM THE FIR BY THE 'PROTECTED WITNESS'
The protected witness had alleged in their complaint, recorded in the FIR dated 11 March, that their attackers had said: “Our Monu bhaiya (a seeming reference to accused Mishra) is out now, he is going to teach all of you a lesson.”
They had also purportedly said:
“Now, our BJP is in power, see what they do to you.”
The witness had also said in their FIR that they were thrashed with a belt and their clothes were also torn in the attack.
The attack had allegedly taken place on the evening of 10 March, almost immediately after the Bharatiya Janata Party’s electoral sweep in the state of Uttar Pradesh.
The FIR was lodged at Tikonia police station of Lakhimpur Kheri, and the case was registered under Sections 147 (rioting), 323 (voluntarily causing hurt) and 506 (criminal intimidation) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC).
The five accused who were named in the FIR (along with a few unnamed persons) were arrested on 11 March and, as pointed out by the state government, released on bail on 14 March.
(At The Quint, we are answerable only to our audience. Play an active role in shaping our journalism by becoming a member. Because the truth is worth it.)