Trial in Lakhimpur Kheri violence case not 'slow paced', says Supreme Court

The Supreme Court on Tuesday said the trial in the 2021 Lakhimpur Kheri violence case, in which Union minister Ajay Kumar Mishra's son Ashish is among those facing prosecution, is not "slow paced" and directed the concerned sessions judge to keep apprising it about the future developments of the trial.

The top court observed though it is not monitoring the trial but it is having an "indirect supervision" on it.

A bench of Justices Surya Kant and J K Maheshwari said the interim direction contained in its January 25 order, by which it had granted eight-week interim bail to Ashish Mishra in the case, shall continue to operate.

Advocate Prashant Bhushan, representing the victim families, told the bench that about 200 prosecution witnesses have to be examined and he is concerned about the "slow pace of the trial".

"The trial is not slow paced. We have received three letters from the trial judge," the bench observed, adding it had gone through the contents of the letters received from th