India’s Supreme Court has sent a confidential vigilance report about the judge overseeing the Lakhimpur Kheri violence trial to the chief justice of the Allahabad High Court, placing any administrative response with the judge’s own court.
The direction was made during proceedings concerning Ashish Mishra, an accused in the case and the son of former Union minister Ajay Mishra. Lawyers for the victims had earlier raised concerns about the presiding officer and the conduct of the prosecution. The High Court’s vigilance officer examined those complaints and sent a report to the Supreme Court under a previous sealed-cover direction.
A bench led by Chief Justice Surya Kant said the report should instead be placed before the Allahabad High Court chief justice for an appropriate decision under the court’s Sept. 22 order. The Supreme Court did not disclose the report’s contents or make a finding against the trial judge.
Uttar Pradesh also told the court that it had proposed a new special public prosecutor after consultation with the district magistrate. The appointment has not yet been described as final. Mishra’s counsel objected to changing the prosecutor during an advanced trial and argued that repeated allegations risked placing pressure on the presiding judge.
The trial concerns the deaths of eight people during violence in October 2021, after vehicles allegedly linked to Mishra’s convoy struck protesting farmers. Mishra denies wrongdoing. Eighty-six witnesses have been examined, according to his counsel.
The order separates two forms of oversight. Questions about the judge’s conduct will be handled administratively by the High Court’s chief justice, while the criminal case continues in the trial court and Mishra’s bail remains governed by existing Supreme Court conditions. Neither the vigilance referral nor the proposed prosecutor change determines criminal liability.
Supreme Court daily-order search — SLP(Crl) No. 7857/2022
