New Delhi: The Supreme Court asked the Uttar Pradesh government to ensure that witnesses in the Lakhimpur Kheri case are protected after petitioners’ challenging the bail for prime accused Ashish Mishra informed the court that a prime witness had been attacked and threatened.“Madam, what is this? They are saying a witness has been attacked. You have to file detailed counter. See that witnesses are protected. We’ll list immediately after Holi,” Chief Justice of India N.V. Ramana told Uttar Pradesh state counsel, advocate Ruchira Goel. Also on the bench were Justices Surya Kant and Hima Kohli.Three family members of farmers who were mowed down in October 2021 by a vehicle purportedly belonging to Ashish Mishra, the son of Union minister and influential BJP leader Ajay ‘Teni’ Mishra, have moved court against his bail and release from jail.Four more people died in the ensuing violence in Lakhimpur Kheri that day. Ashish Mishra was named prime accused and the Special Investigation Team investigating the incident had noted that the incident was a “planned conspiracy.” Mishra was given bail by the Allahabad high court on February 10 – which coincided with the first phase of elections to the Uttar Pradesh assembly.The families of the farmers have sought a stay on this bail order, saying the verdict was unsustainable in the eyes of law as there has been no meaningful and effective assistance by the state to the court in the matter. The petitioners have also argued that the charge sheet against Ashish was also not produced, nor did the court consider it.Senior advocate Dushyant Dave and advocate Prashant Bhushan appeared for the petitioners, LiveLaw has reported.Dave told the apex court that the high court had been “misdirected” on the principles of granting bail, especially considering that a trial court had earlier refused Ashish bail.“See what has influenced him. Sufficient material has come on record to pin him down in chargesheet. FIR isn’t sacrosanct, investigation is important,” Dave said.Bhushan informed the court of an alleged brutal attack on one of the prime witnesses.“After bail was granted to him (Mishra), one of the prime protected witnesses was brutally attacked. The people who attacked him said, ‘Now that BJP has won election they’ll take care of him’,” Bhushan said.This is not the first time that the Supreme Court has told the Uttar Pradesh government to grant protection to witnesses in this case.The apex court on October 26, 2021, had given a similar direction, asking the state government to record the statements of other relevant witnesses before judicial magistrates under section 164 of the CrPC.Days before this, observing that the probe into the Lakhimpur Kheri violence should not be an unending story, the Supreme Court 20 had rapped the state government, saying the Adityanath dispensation was “dragging its feet.”