On October 3, 2021, an SUV, with former Union minister of state for home Ajay ‘Teni’ Mishra’s son Ashish Mishra allegedly in it, mowed down four farmers and a journalist in Uttar Pradesh’s Lakhimpur Kheri district. Three more individuals were slain in the ensuing conflict, including the car's driver and two Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) employees.
Thirteen persons, including Ashish Mishra, were arrested as a result of the incident, which also sparked widespread demonstrations and led the Supreme Court to form a special investigative team (SIT).

In January 2023, the case's trial finally got underway.
However, despite daily sessions mandated by the supreme court, progress has remained sluggish two years later, and HT has discovered that over 40% of the prosecution's witnesses had become hostile.
To yet, just 47 of the 103 witnesses that the prosecution has finalised have testified before Additional District Judge DN Singh's court. According to the prosecuting attorney, 20 of them have become hostile, and 27 of them have recorded their statements.
"Twenty-five of the 27 eyewitnesses who have recorded their statements in court are victims of violence, and two more are eyewitnesses," stated Arvind Tripathi, the state's district government counsel (criminal)."The defence counsel has also cross-examined all 27," he continued.
Tripathi claims that all 20 of the adverse eyewitnesses are farmers and private citizens. "Defence will ask the court for permission to present its witnesses once prosecution has called all of its witnesses. The defence won't be allowed to call witnesses unless the court gives its clearance," he continued.

Sections 147 and 148 of the Indian Penal Code, 149 (unlawful assembly), 302 (murder), 307 (attempt to murder), 326 (voluntarily causing grievous hurt by dangerous weapons or means), 427 (mischief), 120B (punishment for criminal conspiracy), and section 177 of the Motor Vehicles Act, 1988 were the charges against Ashish Mishra and 12 others: Ashish Mishra, Ankit Das, Nandan Singh Bisht, Satya Prakash Tripathi, Latif alias Kale, Shekhar Bharti, Sumit Jaiswal, Ashish Pandey, Lavkush Rana, Shishu Pal, Ullhas Kumar alias Mohit Trivedi, Rinku Rana, and Dharmendra Banjara.
After the SIT's 5,000-page report stated that the violence was "not an act of negligence or carelessness," but rather "a pre-planned conspiracy," the trial court formulated the charges in December 2022.

It will take some time until the case's ultimate ruling is made, according to senior attorney Gyan Singh Chauhan. Chauhan continued, "The party against whom the trial court issues the order will then petition the high court to contest the order."
The Uttar Pradesh Police filed a first information complaint on October 4 of this year against Ajay Mishra "Teni," his son Ashish Mishra, Amandeep Singh, a local resident, and an unnamed individual for allegedly threatening Baljinder Singh, the key witness in the violence case from October 3. The supreme court questioned the Uttar Pradesh Police for putting off responding to the witness's allegation on the grounds that he didn't want to go to the police station, which led to the filing of the FIR.

According to attorney Arvind Tripathi, the prosecution had initially named 441 witnesses, including 208 eyewitnesses, 15 injured victims, including police officers, and 15 doctors who performed post-mortems. The list was reduced to 103 after several rounds of review. The first prosecution witness to testify in court was Jagjit Singh, the father of one of the farmers who perished in the violence. In the case, he is also a complainant, Tripathi stated.
Nationwide demonstrations were sparked by the October 3, 2021, violence, and opposition parties demanded that Ajay Mishra "Teni" quit.

The following day, Ashish Mishra and thirteen other people were the subject of a formal complaint (FIR) made by Lakhimpur Kheri police, which omitted any mention of murder or attempted murder.
The IPC sections 304A (death by negligence or culpable homicide not amounting to murder), 279 (rash driving), and 338 (causing grievous hurt by acts endangering life or personal safety of others) were to be replaced in the charges against them by IPC sections 307 (attempt to murder), 326 (causing hurt with dangerous weapon), 34 (acts done by several persons in furtherance of common intention), and 3/25 of the Arms Act, according to the SIT (special investigation team looking into the case).

Advocate Tripathi stated, "The court added the new charges in the warrant, including the charge of attempt to murder, and conceded this demand by the prosecution."
However, after the defence attorney objected, the court dismissed the SIT's attempt to use the allegation of "common intention" to explain the incident.
Police also filed a second FIR against the protesting farmers, accusing them under section 302 of the IPC, after receiving a complaint from a BJP ward member. In the same court, both cases are currently on trial.
The Supreme Court took notice of the violence on October 7, 2021. Ashish Mishra was arrested late at night after appearing before the SIT two days later.

A local court in Uttar Pradesh added strict provisions of the IPC and Arms Act, including attempt to kill, to the FIR on December 14, 2021, at the SIT's request.
In a 5,000-page chargesheet submitted to the court on January 3, 2022, the SIT accused 14 individuals of committing acts of violence. In January 2022, the chief judicial magistrate granted bail to Virendra Shukla, the fourteenth accused in the violence. Ashish Mishra was on the scene when the fighting started, according to the SIT. Earlier, the minister and his son had insisted that they were not in the vicinity on that particular day.

The Supreme Court revoked the bail two months later, lamenting the Allahabad high court's "tearing hurry" and voicing its "disappointment" with the proceedings, claiming that victims were "denied a fair and effective hearing."
Ashish Mishra was given eight weeks of "experimental" temporary bail by the Supreme court in January 2023. The farmers in the second FIR were also given temporary bail by the bench.
In February 2024, Ashish Mishra's bail was extended by the highest court. Since then, he has been absent. The other co-accused are not incarcerated.
When HT contacted the BJP for comment, the leaders declined, claiming that the case is still pending and under Supreme Court supervision.

Rajendra Chaudhary, a spokesman for the Samajwadi Party, asserted that the incident was prearranged and that his party will back the farmers.