Allahabad HC grants bail to 12 accused in Lakhimpur Kheri case
Lucknow (PTI): The Allahabad High Court on Tuesday granted regular bail to 12 accused in the 2021 Lakhimpur Kheri violence which claimed at least eight lives, and in which former Union minister Ajay Mishra Teni's son Ashish is the main accused.
While approving the release of the accused on bail on Tuesday, the Lucknow bench of the Allahabad High Court asked them to cooperate in the trial or their bail would be revoked.
Prime accused Ashish Mishra was already granted regular bail by the Supreme Court in the case earlier this year.
The Allahabad HC bench that granted the bail to the 12 co-accused was presided over by Justice Krishna Pahal.
It approved separate bail petitions filed by Ankit Das, Nandan Singh Bisht, Latif alias Kale, Satyam Tripathi alias Satya Prakash Tripathi, Shekhar Bharti, Dharmendra Singh Banjara, Ashish Pandey, Rinku Rana, Ullas Kumar Trivedi alias Mohit Trivedi, Lavkush, Sumit Jaiswal and Shishupal.
The court had reserved its decision on October 18 after hearing the case in full and pronounced it on Tuesday via video conferencing from the Court.
In the court, the defense counsel argued that the case involves 114 witnesses, yet only seven have testified so far. It also argued the Supreme Court has already granted regular bail to prime accused Ashish Mishra.
The state government and the complainant's counsel opposed the bail petitions.
After considering arguments from both sides, the court noted that completing the trial might take time, and with the prime accused now out on bail and no complaints filed against the other accused during their interim release, the petitions for regular bail were granted.
On October 3, 2021, eight people were killed in Lakhimpur Kheri district's Tikunia where violence erupted when farmers were protesting against the then deputy chief minister Keshav Prasad Maurya's visit to the area.
According to the Uttar Pradesh Police FIR in the case, four farmers were mowed down by an SUV in which Ashish was seated.
Following the incident, the driver of the SUV and two BJP workers were allegedly lynched by angry farmers. A journalist also died in the violence.
In its order, the apex court said Ashish shall surrender his passport to the trial court within one week of his release on interim bail and not enter Uttar Pradesh except to attend the trial proceedings.
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Pakistan reports two more polio cases; Total tally now 52
ISLAMABAD: At least two more cases of poliovirus were reported in Pakistan, taking the number of infections to 52 so far this year, a report said on Friday.
“The Regional Reference Laboratory for Polio Eradication at the National Institute of Health has confirmed the detection of two more wild poliovirus type 1 (WPV1) cases in Pakistan," an official statement said.
The fresh infections — a boy and a girl — were reported from the Dera Ismail Khan district of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa province.
“Genetic sequencing of the samples collected from the children is underway," the statement read. Dera Ismail Khan, one of the seven polio-endemic districts of southern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, has reported five polio cases so far this year.
Of the 52 cases in the country this year, 24 are from Balochistan, 13 from Sindh, 13 from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, and one each from Punjab and Islamabad.
There is no cure for polio. Only multiple doses of the oral polio vaccine and completion of the routine vaccination schedule for all children under the age of five can keep them protected.
