Lakhimpur Kheri Case: UP Police Register FIR For Witness Intimidation; Supreme Court Allows Ashish Mishra To Visit Hometown For Diwali

In the Lakhimpur Kheri Violence case involving former Union Minister's son Ashish Mishra, the Supreme Court was informed today that a witness has confirmed that he was threatened against testifying and wants to pursue legal action.

Counsel for the State apprised the Court that the statement of the witness was recorded and an FIR has been registered under Sections 195A, 506 and 120B of IPC. "We deputed a Deputy Secretary, who recorded his (witness) statement and he verified that there was some kind of pressure on him", he said.

A bench of Justices Surya Kant and Joymalya Baghchi directed that since the preliminary exercise was conducted by an officer of the rank of DSP, it would be prudent for the FIR to be investigated by the same officer and/or an officer of that rank.

"Police has filed a status report according to which an officer in the rank of [...] was deputed to conduct an enquiry into complaint. Complainant was not readily available. Efforts were made to trace him at different places, especially in Punjab. A DSP was eventually able to contact the complainant on 19 Sept and recorded his statement. Complainant is said to have confirmed that he wants legal action. In view thereof, police has now registered an FIR dt. 04.10.25 u/s 195A, 506 and 120B of IPC. Matter is under investigation. Let status of ongoing investigation be brought on record", the bench recorded.

As per reports, the FIR for witness intimidation has named Ashish Mishra and his father Ajay Mishra Teni (former Union Minister), as the accused

On a request by Mishra, the bench also allowed him to visit his hometown Lakhimpur Kheri for Diwali festival celebrations. It ordered that the conditions imposed in para 9 of order dated 24.03.2025, whereby Mishra was similarly allowed to visit Lakhimpur Kheri for Ram Navami festival, shall be abided. The bench also recorded Mishra's undertaking that he shall return on October 22.

It may be recalled that earlier, the Court directed Uttar Pradesh police to verify allegations and take necessary action on a complaint made by the witness regarding threats/inducement to not depose in the case. It also asked the Trial Court to examine as many witnesses as possible on the next date (August 20).

Today, Senior Advocate Siddharth Dave (for Mishra), the State counsel and Advocate Prashant Bhushan (for complainant) apprised the bench about the status of the trial. It was stated that 23 prosecution witnesses have been examined, 9 have been dropped, 2 remain unserved and the rest have been summoned for the next date (that is October 27). The State counsel said that the witness list was revised and now 131 total witnesses are to be examined instead of 208. Bhushan, on the other hand, highlighted that 99 witnesses remain to be examined.

Though a request was made by Bhushan to direct expedition of trial, so that it is held twice a week or so, the bench was not convinced to pass an order. Justice Kant said that sometimes, a poor person might suffer due to such direction and the action may amount to direct monitoring of trial by the Supreme Court. When Bhushan persisted that the case is an important one and should not be allowed to suffer the fate as some trials have in the past, the judge asked the counsels to inform how many other trials are pending before the concerned Court.

Background

The case involves the killing of five persons in October 2021 in Lakhimpur Kheri, when vehicles of the convoy of Ashish Mishra allegedly ran over a group of farmers who were protesting against the farm laws. The case attracted political controversy as Mishra's father - Ajay Kumar Mishra - was then a Union Minister.

The Supreme Court took suo motu cognizance of the incident and criticized the Uttar Pradesh police for its failure to arrest Ashish Mishra. He was later taken into custody following the Court's criticism.

The Allahabad High Court granted bail to Mishra on February 10, 2022, but it was set aside by a Supreme Court bench comprising then CJI NV Ramana, Justice Surya Kant and Justice Hima Kohli in April 2022 after noting that the High Court took into account irrelevant considerations and ignored relevant factors. The bail application was then remanded to the High Court. The Supreme Court's order came in an appeal filed by the relatives of the farmers who got killed in the incident.

After re-hearing the matter, the High Court dismissed the bail application.

In January 2023, the Supreme Court granted Mishra interim bail for 8 weeks, which was extended from time to time. The order came with a slew of conditions. The interim bail order was later made absolute. The Court permitted Mishra to stay either in Delhi or Lucknow, UP.

In November, 2024, the Court sought Mishra's response on allegations of threatening witnesses in the case. In January this year, the Court directed Superintendent of Police, Lakhimpur to conduct a fact-finding inquiry into the allegations.

In May, the Court relaxed Mishra's bail conditions and allowed him to visit Lakhimpur Kheri every Saturday evening to spend time with family, subject to the condition that he should return to Lucknow Sunday evening. The Court added that while in Lakhimpur Kheri, Mishra should not participate in any public meeting or political activities and that the visit shall be private only for the family members.

Case Title: Ashish Mishra Alias Monu v. State of U.P. SLP(Crl) No. 7857/2022

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