The Supreme Court on Thursday relaxed the bail conditions of Ashish Mishra, the main accused in the 2021 Lakhimpur Kheri violence case, allowing him to visit his native place in the district from December 25 to December 31, Live Law reported.

The case pertains to the death of eight persons, including four farmers, on October 3, 2021, as violence had broken out after a vehicle belonging to Ashish Mishra, the son of former Union minister Ajay Mishra, had allegedly run over a group of demonstrators.

The violence had broken out in Lakhimpur Kheri district during a protest against the Centre’s now-repealed agricultural laws.

In January 2023, a bench of Justices Surya Kant and JK Maheshwari granted Ashish Mishra interim bail for eight weeks, which was extended several times.

In 2024, a bench of Justices Kant and Ujjal Bhuyan made the interim order absolute.

In May, the court further relaxed the bail conditions, allowing Ashish Mishra to visit Lakhimpur Kheri every Saturday evening to meet his family, with the requirement that he return to Lucknow by Sunday evening.

The court had clarified that Ashish Mishra must not participate in any public meetings or political activities during these visits and that the travel must remain strictly private.

The order on Thursday will allow him to stay in Lakhimpur for a week, subject to the same terms and conditions which were there earlier.

A bench of Chief Justice Surya Kant and Justice Joymalya Bagchi also noted that 36 witnesses have been examined in the main trial and 85 are yet to be examined, according to an updated status report filed by Uttar Pradesh, Live Law reported. Ten witnesses have been exempted.

The court took on record the statement of the Uttar Pradesh additional advocate general that 789 trials are pending before the same judge who is hearing the case, Live Law reported.

The bench observed that it is not “humanly possible” for one judicial officer to be saddled with so many trials, The Hindu reported.

The matter has been listed for further hearing in March 2026.

Ashish Mishra was first arrested in the case on October 9, 2021. He walked out of jail on February 15, 2022, after the Allahabad High Court granted him bail. However, families of those killed in the violence challenged the bail order in the Supreme Court, which overturned the High Court verdict and cancelled Mishra’s bail in April 2022.

After setting aside the High Court’s bail order, the Supreme Court asked that another bench be assigned to hear his plea. The new bench denied Ashish Mishra bail in July 2022, after which he moved the Supreme Court once again to challenge the order.

In October, the Uttar Pradesh Police told the Supreme Court that a first information report was filed on a witness’ complaint that he was threatened with consequences and offered a bribe not to testify in the case.

The case was filed at the Paduwa police station on October 4 and named Ajay Mishra, Ashish Mishra and two other persons.