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New Delhi, April 18
The SKM on Monday welcomed the Supreme Court's decision to cancel the bail of Ashish Mishra, the son of Union minister Ajay Mishra, in the Lakhimpur Kheri violence case, saying farmers' faith has been restored in the country's judicial system.
The Samyukt Kisan Morcha, which spearheaded the agitation that led to the withdrawal of the Centre's contentious farm laws, also said "there is no justification left for Ajay Mishra Teni to continue in the Union Cabinet".
The Supreme Court on Monday cancelled Ashish Mishra's bail in the Lakhimpur Kheri violence case and asked him to surrender within a week. It said the victims were denied "a fair and effective hearing" in the Allahabad High Court which adopted a "myopic view of the evidence".
The apex court held that the high court took into account irrelevant considerations and gave extra weightage to the contents of the FIR.
With the Supreme Court cancelling the bail of Ashish Mishra, son of Union Minister of State for Home Ajay Mishra Teni and the main accused in the Lakhimpur Kheri incident, the faith of farmers and the people of the country has been restored in the country's judicial system, the SKM said.
"Efforts were on to save the criminals from the very beginning in this heinous murder that took place on October 3, and justice has been achieved only after the repeated intervention of the apex court," it said.
"After this order, there is no justification left for Ajay Mishra Teni to continue in the Union Cabinet.
"The brutal case of four farmers and a journalist being crushed in broad daylight by the son of a Union minister has become a trial for the rule of law across the country. From the very beginning, the government was determined to protect the minister and his son in any way possible and constitutional norms and legal process have been flouted time and again in this case," the SKM alleged.
On October 3 last year, eight people were killed in Uttar Pradesh's Lakhimpur Kheri during violence that erupted when farmers were protesting against Deputy Chief Minister Keshav Prasad Maurya's visit to the area.
According to the FIR registered by the Uttar Pradesh Police, four farmers were mowed down by an SUV in which Ashish Mishra was seated.
Following this, the driver of the SUV and two BJP workers were allegedly lynched by the angry farmers. A journalist also died in the violence.
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