The Supreme Court Thursday allowed Ashish Mishra, the main accused in the 2021 Lakhimpur Kheri violence case, who is out on bail, to visit his hometown even as it expressed surprise that the trial court judge hearing the case has 789 trials pending before him.A bench of Chief Justice of India Surya Kant and Justice Joymalya Bagchi permitted Mishra to visit Lakhimpur so that he can be with his daughter ahead of her Class 12 examination.“Liberty is granted to the petitioner to visit and stay in Lakhimpur Kheri from 25th December to 31st December, subject to the same terms and conditions which were there earlier,” the court ordered.In May, the Supreme Court relaxed Mishra’s bail conditions and allowed him to visit Lakhimpur Kheri every Saturday evening to spend time with family, subject to returning to Lucknow Sunday evening.The state informed the court in a status report that 36 witnesses have been examined so far, with 85 remaining.Uttar Pradesh Additional Advocate General also informed the bench that 789 trials are pending before the same judge.The court then noted the need for more courts to address the workload. “Why don’t you think of setting up additional courts then, because it is really impossible for one trial judge to deal with so many trials,” said CJI Kant.Story continues below this adSenior Advocate Siddharth Dave, who appeared for Mishra, also pointed out that the docket was “clogged”.The CJI said the court is taking care of the issue and pointed out that it had directed government “to establish and provide us additional infrastructure for the establishment of exclusive courts to deal with” MP/MLA cases and matters under the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA), Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), National Investigation Agency (NIA) and Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) cases andthose courts will not be assigned any other matter, except of trial.He added that the Centre has been forthcoming regarding the building of infrastructure.Four anti-farm law protesters were killed when a convoy of vehicles, including one belonging to Ashish Mishra’s father and former union minister Ajay Mishra, ran over them on October 3, 2021, in Uttar Pradesh’s Lakhimpur Kheri. Two BJP workers, the driver of one of the vehicles, and a journalist were also killed in the ensuing violence.Story continues below this adAshish Mishra was first arrested in the case on October 9, 2021. He was released from jail on February 15, 2022, after the Allahabad High Court granted him bail.But the Supreme Court set aside the HC order after the kin of some of the deceased approached it. The matter was remanded back to the HC, which, after rehearing, dismissed the bail plea.On December 6, 2022, an Uttar Pradesh court framed charges against 14 people, including Mishra. Mishra has been charged with a number of offences, including murder, attempt to murder, rioting and criminal conspiracy.Subsequently, on January 25, 2023, the Supreme Court granted him interim bail in the case. This was extended from time to time and made absolute on July 22, 2024. The trial in the case began on December 16, 2023.