A trial court in Uttar Pradesh on Tuesday framed murder charges against Ashish Mishra, son of Union Minister Ajay Mishra Teni, in the Lakhimpur Kheri violence case in which eight people were killed after being allegedly mowed down by Mishra’s vehicle.
Additional District Judge I Sunil Kumar Verma framed charges of murder and various offences under the Indian Penal Code (IPC) against Mishra and 13 other accused persons.
The trial in the case will begin from December 16.
On Monday, the same judge had dismissed discharge pleas filed by Mishra and other accused in the case.
The charges have been framed under Sections 147 (rioting), 148 (rioting armed with deadly weapons), 149 (offence committed in prosecution of common object), 302 (murder), 307 (attempt to murder), 326 (voluntarily causing grievous hurt by dangerous weapons), 427 (mischief causing damage), 120B (criminal conspiracy) of the IPC and Section 177 of the Motor Vehicles Act.
Another accused, Virendra Shukla, will be tried for causing disappearance of evidence.
On October 3 last year, eight people were killed in Lakhimpur Kheri during violence that erupted when farmers were protesting against the now revoked farm laws. The protesters had impeded the visit of Uttar Pradesh Deputy Chief Minister Keshav Prasad Maurya, who was planning to attend an event in the area.
During the protests, a four-wheeler belonging to Mishra had allegedly mowed down and killed eight persons, including the protesting farmers.
Mishra was arrested on October 9, 2021 by a Special Investigation Team (SIT), and was sent to days police custody.
Justice Rajeev Singh of the Allahabad High Court had granted bail to Mishra on February 10, stating that there might have been a possibility that the driver of the vehicle that mowed down the protesting farmers sped up the vehicle to save himself.
The Supreme Court in April cancelled the bail granted by the High Court and remanded the matter back to the High Court for fresh consideration.
On July 26, the High Court denied Mishra bail.
