The Supreme Court on Thursday modified the bail conditions of Ashish Mishra, accused in the 2021 Lakhimpur Kheri violence case, to allow him to visit his hometown every weekend for limited hours, citing humanitarian grounds.
A bench comprising Justices Surya Kant and N Kotiswar Singh permitted Mishra to travel to Lakhimpur Kheri each Saturday evening and remain there until Sunday evening to be with his ailing mother and young daughters. The court emphasized that the visit should be strictly private and directed that he must return to Lucknow on Sunday evening, ensuring he is not in the district on working days when courts are in session.
Ashish Mishra, son of former Union Minister and BJP leader Ajay Mishra, had approached the top court seeking relaxation of the bail order dated January 25, 2023, which prohibited his entry into Lakhimpur Kheri except for attending court hearings. In support of the plea, his counsel cited his mother’s deteriorating health and his daughters’ crucial academic period.
The court agreed to modify the earlier condition but imposed clear restrictions, directing Mishra not to participate in any public meeting or political activity during his stay. “Such visit shall be private only to spend time with family members,” the court clarified.
At the same time, the bench addressed the slow progress of the trial, where only 16 out of 208 listed witnesses—including 10 injured eyewitnesses—have been examined so far. To expedite proceedings, the court authorized the public prosecutor to consider dropping witnesses deemed unnecessary, including multiple witnesses from the same family, and left it to the prosecutor’s discretion.
“The public prosecutor will examine the list of witnesses to find out whether some of the witnesses, if found unnecessary, can be dropped,” the bench stated, after senior additional advocate general Garima Prashad informed that more than 75 eyewitnesses and several officials still need to testify.
Representing the victims, advocate Prashant Bhushan urged the court to ensure that only crucial witnesses are prioritized. Though Mishra’s lawyer Siddharth Dave objected to victims participating in the decision-making process, the court overruled the objection, stating, “You cannot expect victims to be silent spectators in a trial.”
The bench also noted that the court was not overseeing the day-to-day trial but sought to ensure its timely completion. “Do not say he belongs to one party, and he belongs to another party. Our basic purpose is to expedite the trial,” the bench remarked, distancing itself from political affiliations involved in the matter.
Mishra is accused of running over protesting farmers with an SUV on October 3, 2021, during a demonstration against the now-repealed farm laws. Four farmers and a journalist were killed in the incident. In retaliation, protestors lynched three occupants of the convoy, for which a separate criminal case is pending.
Mishra was arrested six days after the incident and was denied bail by the Allahabad High Court in July 2022 before being granted conditional bail by the Supreme Court in January 2023.
The matter will be heard next in July as the court continues to monitor the pace of the trial.
