SC cancels bail of minister’s son in UP farmers’ killing, asks him to surrender

The Supreme Court on Monday canceled the bail of Ashish Mishra, accused in the killings reported in Uttar Pradesh’s Lakhimpur last year. He has also been asked by the top court to surrender within a week.

Ashish Mishra is the son of union minister Ajay Mishra who has been facing attacks from the opposition since last year over the incident; four farmers were among the eight people killed in Lakhimpur when a protest against the visit of deputy chief minister Keshav Prasad Maurya turned violent. It was alleged that the victims were mowed down by an SUV in which the minister’s son was sitting.

In February, the Allahabad High Court had granted bail to Ashish, nearly four months after he was arrested. The high court has now been asked by the top court to take up the matter afresh.

Earlier this month, the top court was told by the state government that while the “alleged offenses are serious”, the accused was “not at flight risk”.

The state government also assured during the hearing that all witnesses in the case have been provided proper security – a claim that was contested by the petitioners’ lawyers.

Last month, a top-court appointed panel had recommended the cancellation of bail given to the accused. The top court had then sought the state’s response.

The state government had also faced flak over delay in the response to the report during one of the hearings.

The UP government told the court it had, in fact, argued against the high court’s decision to grant the bail and the petitioners’ submission – that it did not effectively oppose bail – was “completely untrue”.

In an appeal, the families of Jagjeet Singh, Pawan Kashyap and Sukhwinder Singh, who were among four farmers killed in the October 3 violence,alleged that the high court verdict was “unsustainable in eyes of law as there has been no meaningful and effective assistance by the state to the court in the matter”