Overview
- The Supreme Court has listed the plea filed by Ashish Mishra, the prime accused in the October 3, 2021 Lakhimpur Kheri violence, for likely hearing on October 26.
- The top court has directed the Uttar Pradesh government to appoint a new public prosecutor to conduct the case, changing who will lead the prosecution at trial.
- The Supreme Court asked the Allahabad High Court chief justice to examine allegations about the trial presiding officer and ordered the high court’s registrar (vigilance) to send a sealed report to the Supreme Court.
- The trial in the case is at an advanced stage with the trial court having examined 86 of 130 prosecution witnesses, bringing the prosecution phase close to completion.
- The case draws intense public and political attention because the accused is the son of a former union minister and the October 2021 incident left eight people dead, so any probe into the judge or changes to prosecution could shape the trial’s fairness and outcome.