Lakhimpur Kheri case | Union Minister Ajay Mishra's son Ashish back in jail

Jail Superintendent PP Singh said Ashish will be kept in a separate barrack in the jail due to security reasons.

Policemen escort Lakhimpur Kheri violence case accused Ashish Mishra after he surrendered in Lakhimpur Kheri district on April 24, 2022. | Photo Credit: PTI

Ashish Mishra, son of Union Minister Ajay Mishra, on Sunday surrendered before a local court in Lakhimpur Kheri a week after the Supreme Court on April 18 set aside the bail granted to him by the Allahabad High Court in the killing of farmers in October 2021.

"Ashish has surrendered in the court. We were given a week's time but as Monday was the last day, he surrendered a day ahead," Mr. Ashish's counsel Awadesh Singh told the PTI. While setting aside his bail, the apex court had directed him to surrender in a week.

Mr. Ashish alias Monu was sent back to the Lakhimpur Kheri district jail, officials said.

Jail Superintendent P.P. Singh said Ashish will be kept in a separate barrack in the jail due to security reasons.

Eight people were killed in Lakhimpur Kheri during the violence that erupted when farmers were protesting against Uttar Pradesh Deputy Chief Minister Keshav Prasad Maurya's visit to the area on October 3, 2021.

The dead included four farmers and a journalist, who were mowed down allegedly by cars carrying Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) workers.

According to the first information report (FIR) lodged in the case, Mr. Ashish was sitting in one of the cars. Later, the police arrested Mr. Ashish. The Lucknow Bench of the Allahabad High Court had granted regular bail to him and opined that the present case was one of "accident by hitting with the vehicle".

Cancelling his bail, the Supreme Court said the victims were denied "a fair and effective hearing" in the Allahabad High Court, which adopted a "myopic view of the evidence".

The top court had also noted that a victim has unbridled participatory rights from the stage of investigation till the culmination of the proceedings in an appeal or revision.

Holding that the High Court order cannot be sustained and deserved to be set aside, the SC termed the Lakhimpur Kheri incident, if true as per allegations, as "an awakening call" to the State authorities to reinforce adequate protection for the life, liberty and properties of the eye/injured witnesses as well as for the families of the dead.

(With inputs from the Press Trust of India.)