New Delhi: The Lakhimpur Kheri trial involving Union minister Ajay Mishra’s son will “take at least five years to complete,” a district court in Uttar Pradesh told the Supreme Court.Four farmers were killed on October 3, 2021, after a vehicle connected with Mishra’s son, Ashish, ran them over. In the violence that ensued, four more people, including a journalist, died.The apex court had asked for the district court’s report while hearing Ashish Mishra’s bail application. Ashish had sought bail on the grounds that the trial will not end soon.Hindustan Times has reported that a bench of Justices Surya Kant and V. Ramasubramanian said: “The report says the trial will take at least five years as there are more than 200 witnesses.”India Today has reported that the report by the the additional sessions judge had it that there are 171 documents and 27 forensic science laboratory (FSL) reports in the case.Advocate Prashant Bhushan had appeared for the victims’ families and argues that the accused have enormous influences and should not be given bail till prime witnesses are examined.The bench appeared unlikely to grant this, and said, “The larger issue has to be kept in mind. Any timelines fixed may cause serious prejudice to the prosecution.”Also unenthusiastic about Bhushan’s request for day-to-day trials were senior advocates Mukul Rohatgi and Siddharth Dave, appearing for Mishra.“How long should someone be kept inside? Keeping him indefinitely, will it not be pre-judging his guilt?” the Supreme Court had said earlier.The Allahabad high court in May 9 last year denied bail to four accused men in the case, noting that the incident might not have happened had Union minister and Bharatiya Janata Party leader Ajay Mishra not made the alleged utterances earlier.Addressing a public gathering on September 25, 2021, Ajay Mishra had told farmers (who were demonstrating across the country against the three agricultural laws, which were eventually withdrawn) to “discipline” themselves. “Or else we will discipline you. It will only take two minutes,” he said.