The Supreme Court on Tuesday sought a report from the Allahabad High Court on allegations raised by Advocate Prashant Bhushan against the trial judge hearing the 2021 Lakhimpur Kheri violence case [Ashish Mishra Alias Monu v State of UP].

A Bench of Chief Justice of India (CJI) Surya Kant and Justices Joymalya Bagchi and V Mohana directed the Uttar Pradesh government to appoint a senior and experienced public prosecutor for the trial.

"Let the State government take instructions and place on record its affidavit within two weeks as to which senior, experienced public prosecutor can be allotted for the case," directed the Court.

Additionally, the Court asked Allahabad High Court Chief Justice Arun Bhansali to examine Bhushan's allegations against the trial judge.

"Let a copy of this IA also be placed before the Chief Justice of the Allahabad High Court to take note of, and let a report concerning the IA be submitted before us in a sealed cover before the next date."

Bhushan, appearing for the victims, alleged that the trial judge had taken up cases himself that were assigned to other courts and granting relief to accused persons. He specifically alleged that the judge had assigned several cases under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act and the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act to himself and granted bail in them.

“There are some very disturbing events which have taken place, which will shock Your Lordships' conscience as to how this judge, who is currently dealing with it. Apparently, what he has done is quite shocking, not just in this case but in so many other cases,” said Bhushan.

The proceedings arose from the Supreme Court's continuing monitoring of the trial arising from the October 2021 Lakhimpur Kheri violence, in which 8 people were killed.

Ashish Mishra, son of former Union Minister Ajay Mishra, is among the accused.

The Supreme Court previously expressed concern over the pace of the trial and directed steps to secure the presence of witnesses. It had earlier directed that crucial witnesses be examined on priority and that the trial be expedited.

During the hearing on Tuesday, Bhushan questioned the trial court judge's handling of an eyewitness in the Lakhimpur Kheri trial.

The previous trial judge retired on April 15 and the present judge took over the case the next day. According to Bhushan, on April 17, eyewitness Sher Singh could not appear because he was unwell and had submitted a medical slip after being examined at a community health centre. Despite this, Bhushan alleged, the judge issued a non-bailable warrant against him.

Taking note of these submissions, CJI Kant noted that the Supreme Court had itself directed the trial court to expedite the proceedings. He pointed out that the trial judge could take action where witnesses failed to appear without a satisfactory explanation.

Bhushan, however, said that the witness had already given an explanation for his absence. He alleged that police subsequently went to the witness' parents and intimidated them, following which the witness said he did not want to appear.

The Court also questioned why the prosecution had decided not to examine 3 other witnesses who had been summoned.

Bhushan said that the public prosecutor had recently been replaced and that the new prosecutor had only about 4 months' experience.

CJI Kant then directed the State government to find a senior prosecutor for the case.

Bhushan also alleged that the site plan relevant to the Lakhimpur Kheri violence had gone missing from the trial court record. He submitted that the judge had not followed the procedure for dealing with its absence. He sought the removal of the judge from the trial, saying that his continued involvement could result in a “gross miscarriage of justice”.

Justice Bagchi, however, pointed out that administrative control over the trial judge lay with the Allahabad High Court, not the Supreme Court.

The Court, therefore, directed that Bhushan's application be placed before the Chief Justice of the Allahabad High Court.

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