[Lakhimpur Kheri] Five people lost their lives by alleged dastardly act: Allahabad High Court denies bail to four

The Allahabad High Court on Monday rejected bail applications filed by four accused persons in the Lakhimpur Kheri incident while reasoning that five people lost their lives due to the alleged "dastardly act" of the accused [Lavkush v. State of Uttar Pradesh]..Justice Dinesh Kumar Singh, while dismissing the applications, opined that the incident may not have taken place if the Union Minister of State for Home Ajay Mishra had not made alleged utterances that the farmers would be expelled and chased away from District Kheri.“Political persons holding high offices, should make public utterances in a decent language considering its repercussions in the Society,” the judge said while pointing out that politicians should not make irresponsible statements and were required to conduct themselves befitting their status and dignity of the high office they hold..Further, the judge took a poor view of the wrestling competition which was organised by the main accused Ashish Mishra for which his father, Ajay Mishra was in town. The Court said that despite Section 144 of the Criminal Procedure Code being imposed in the area due to the farmers' agitation, the competition was organised and the Union Minister as well as the Deputy Chief Minister decided to be present at the event.“The law makers cannot be seen to be law violators. This Court cannot believe that it would not have been within the knowledge the Deputy Chief Minister of the State that in the area provisions of Section 144 Cr.P.C. were clamped and, any assembly or gathering was prohibited.”.One of the applicants, Ankit Das, submitted that he was a victim of unfortunate circumstances. He claimed that he was not in the pilot car which allegedly hit and crushed the farmers, and none of the firearm injuries came from his weapon.However, the State argued that Das and other co-accused were very influential persons, and if enlarged on bail, there was every likelihood of their influencing witnesses, tampering with evidence and interfering with the course of justice..Counsel for the complainant also submitted that Das was the grandson of a former Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh, and a close associate, confidant and accomplice of the main accused.It was the complainant’s submission that Das had intention, motive, mens rea and knowledge to commit the crime. It was argued that it was a well-planned and orchestrated conspiracy since the applicant and other co-accused, armed with deadly weapons, went where the farmers were protesting on three vehicles at high speed and crushed many innocent farmers..The Court found that the charge-sheet disclosed overwhelming evidence against Das and other co-accused for commission of the offence. Further, considering that the applicant and the main accused belonged to very influential, political families, the possibility of their interfering with justice could not be ruled out..Pertinently, on going through the evidence collected by the Special Investigation Team monitored by Justice (retd) Rakesh Kumar Jain, the Court acknowledged the “free, fair, impartial and scientific investigation of the offence.”.Advocate Manish Mani Sharma appeared for three of the applicants. Senior Advocate IB Singh assisted by Advocates Pranshu Agarwal, Arun Sinha, Atmad Hasan Idrisi, Siddhartha Sinha, Vikas Srivastava and Gopal Swaroop Chaturvedi appeared for Ankit Das.The State was represented by Additional Advocate General VK Shahi, Government Advocate Shashank Singh and Additional Government Advocate Prachish Pandey..The Supreme Court recently cancelled the bail granted by the Allahabad High Court to Ajay Mishra’s son, Ashish Mishra, the main accused in the Lakhimpur Kheri violence in which 8 people were killed after being allegedly mowed down by his and other vehicles..[BREAKING] Lakhimpur Kheri: Supreme Court cancels bail granted to Ashish Mishra by Allahabad High Court.[Read Order]