January 22, 2026

No One Should Be Spared In The Lakhimpur Kheri Case

By Sunil Garodia
First publised on 2022-01-04 06:37:58

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Editor-in-Chief of indiacommentary.com. Current Affairs analyst and political commentator.

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It is good that the SIT probing the Lakhimpur Kheri outrage in which an SUV in the convoy of Union minister Ajay Mishra's son Ashish Mishra had ploughed down several farmers has filed a 5000-page chargesheet in the case against 14 accused, which include Ashish Mishra and Vi'endra Shukla, who is the brother-in-law of Ajay Mishra and owned the SUV.

The incident has caused outrage all over the country and was a result of the some BJP leaders trying to demonize farmers and trying to show them who the boss was. It also showed how the kin, relatives and hangers-on of some prominent BJP leaders behaved and took the law in their own hands. After the SUV ran over the farmers, they retaliated and allegedly lynched three BJP workers. In a separate development, the police have also detained some farmers for the lynching.

An SIT member has confirmed that all 99 witnesses in the case have testified that Ashish Mishra was present at the spot. Although it has not been reported whether Virendra Shukla was also present at the spot, the very fact that he owned the SUV and tried to destroy evidence has led to him being charged under IPC section 201 (causing disappearance of evidence). But Shukla is yet to be arrested.

Action needs to be taken fast in the case as the government needs to convince farmers that the involvement of BJP leaders will not lead to the suppression of the case. That is as necessary for building trust as for proving that rule of law will prevail. Union minister Ajay Mishra's had also been named in the complaint by some farmers. But he has not been questioned yet. The SIT has said that this is an ongoing case and a supplementary chargesheet will be filed later. It is hoped that all those involved in the incident will be booked as per law.