The Allahabad High Court today denied bail to Ashish Mishra, the son of junior Union Home Minister Ajay Mishra, in connection with the Lakhimpur Kheri violence case.
Ashish Mishra had requested fresh bail after Supreme Court cancelled an earlier bail order granted by the Lucknow Bench of Allahabad High Court on February 10 this year. The Supreme Court had then directed the high court to decide his bail plea after giving adequate opportunity to the victim side.
Accordingly, the high court heard his bail plea afresh and reserved the order on July 15 after completing the hearing and set date for its verdict for today.
Four farmers and a journalist were killed in Uttar Pradesh's Lakhimpur Kheri in October last year during a protest against the now-repealed farm laws.
It was alleged that Ashish Mishra was sitting in one of the cars that crushed the farmers and the journalist to death. Soon after violence broke out in the area resulting in the death of two BJP workers and a driver.
Mr Mishra's counsel has claimed that he was not present at the spot of violence. The claim has been backed by 197 people in their affidavits before court, according to Ashish Mishra's lawyers, news agency PTI reported.
Earlier, while canceling bail granted to Ashish Mishra by the Allahabad High Court, the Supreme Court had said that the FIR in the case "cannot be treated as an encyclopedia of events" and that judicial precedents were ignored.
At least two witnesses in the high-profile case have alleged that they were attacked and threatened not to testify.
On April 12, Hardeep Singh was attacked by a group of people in the Rampur district over his role as a witness in the case. The police, however, contested the charge, saying they had not found any link to the case. Another witness had claimed he was attacked in March and attackers had issued threats citing the BJP's victory in the recent UP election.
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