Lakhimpur Kheri case / The witness was attacked last night, Prashant Bhushan claimed before the Supreme Court, hearing on Tuesday

Advocate Prashant Bhushan on Friday claimed before the Supreme Court that a witness in the Lakhimpur Kheri case was attacked last night. On this basis, Bhushan sought urgent hearing from the Supreme Court on the petition seeking cancellation of bail of the main accused in the case, Ashish Mishra.

Last week also, Bhushan had demanded an early hearing on this petition. On this, Chief Justice NV Raman had said to list it on March 11. Bhushan said the hearing was to be held today. On this, the Chief Justice said that this happened due to the mistake of the office. He said it would be listed for hearing on Tuesday.

Bhushan told the apex court on Friday that a key witness in the case was attacked last night. The petition filed by the victim's family against the Allahabad High Court's order granting bail to Mishra states that the High Court has disobeyed all the guidelines laid down by the apex court while granting bail to Mishra.

The petitioners contend that the February 10 order of the High Court is "perverted" and "untenable in the eyes of law" as the court has not received any meaningful and effective assistance in the matter by the State. Even the victims were prevented from bringing the relevant material to the notice of the High Court as their lawyer was 'disconnected' from the hearing on January 18 and repeated calls to the court staff did not help.

The petitioners claimed that their application seeking effective hearing was rejected. The petitioners have argued that the High Court acted in an unreasonable and arbitrary manner in granting bail. The High Court failed to consider the heinous nature of the offence.

It should be noted that on October 3 last year, many farmers were protesting against the visit of Deputy Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh Keshav Prasad Maurya to Lakhimpur Kheri district. Then an SUV crushed the farmers. Four farmers were killed in this. The SUV was reportedly part of the convoy of Union Minister of State for Home Ajay Kumar Mishra 'Teni'. Mishra's son Ashish Mishra is the main accused in the case.