The Supreme Court on Monday sought a report from the Uttar Pradesh police after allegations, accusing Ashish Mishra of influencing witnesses in the Lakhimpur Kheri violence case, surfaced.
A bench of Justices Surya Kant and N Kotiswar Singh directed the Lakhimpur Kheri superintendent of police to file the report in the court.
"In our considered view the veracity, genuineness and reliability of such material can only be gone into by the police administration. The police administration may submit a report in support or against the allegation made in the application seeking cancellation of bail," the bench said.
Mishra, son of Union minister Ajay Mishra, denied the allegations in his affidavit, and said every time the matter was listed, such averments were made for the cancellation of his bail granted by the top court.
Advocate Prashant Bhushan, appearing for complainants, claimed he had an audio recording of an attempt made to influence crucial witnesses in the case.
He also alleged Mishra attended a public meeting in violation of bail conditions.
Seeking the cancellation of Mishra's bail, Bhushan said the court may ascertain the authenticity of the material brought before it.
Senior advocate Siddharth Dave, appearing for Mishra, opposed Bhushan's submission, saying his client was being targeted unnecessarily.
He said his client was in Lok Sabha secretariat in Delhi on the day of the alleged public meeting.
The bench asked Bhushan and Dave to submit their material to Ruchira Goel, UP government's standing counsel, for handing it over to the Lakhimpur Kheri SP.
Bhushan said the inquiry should be carried out by some senior officers and not the SP as he may come under the influence.
The bench said the SP was fairly a senior IPS officer and the court should trust the officers.
The hearing was posted after four weeks.
On November 27, last year, the top court directed Mishra to respond to the allegations that witnesses of the case were being threatened.
The apex court granted bail to Mishra on July 22 last year and restricted his movement to Delhi or Lucknow.
On October 3, 2021, eight people, including four farmers, were killed in Tikunia in Lakhimpur Kheri district during a protest by farmers against deputy Chief Minister Keshav Prasad Maurya's visit to the area.
Four farmers were mowed down by a sports utility vehicle.
A driver and two Bharatiya Janata Party workers were then allegedly lynched by angry farmers. A journalist also died in the violence.
The top court in 2023 had said Mishra should not stay in UP or Delhi during the period of interim bail. This was done with a view to avoid any influence on witnesses in the case.
On September 26, 2023, the apex court relaxed his bail conditions to enable him to visit and stay in NCR to look after his ailing mother and for the treatment of his daughter.
The trial court in December 2023 framed charges against Mishra and 12 others for murder, criminal conspiracy and under other penal laws in the case of the farmers' deaths, paving the way for the trial of the case.
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