The SC was hearing petitions on cow vigilantism, but the verdict comes as India grapples with another form of mob violence, triggered by a WhatsApp rumour.
New Delhi: The Supreme Court Tuesday said Parliament must bring a law that instils fear in perpetrators of mob violence, setting a four-week deadline for the Centre and states to issue guidelines on curbing “mobocracy”.
The court was hearing a batch of pleas filed by social activist Tehseen Poonawala and Mahatma Gandhi’s great-grandson Tushar Gandhi in the wake of a spate of lynchings by self-styled cow vigilantes.
The judgment is also expected to help curb another form of mob violence that has emerged since — the attacks on strangers suspected to be child-lifters on the basis of a viral WhatsApp rumour.
“The people have grown numb and they must be protected from mobocracy,” a bench of Chief Justice of India Dipak Misra, Justice A.M. Khanwilkar and Justice D.Y. Chandrachud said. “Horrendous acts of violence must be curbed.”
“This is still a society that champions civil rights and it is the duty of the state to ensure maintenance of law and order, pluralistic social fabric and rule of law,” the bench added.
Earlier, the bench had laid the onus of curbing mob violence squarely on the states, and urged their administrations as well as the Centre to take strong measures to curb cow vigilantism, saying it was their duty to protect people.
‘No vigilante group has any space in the country’
During the course of the hearings, the Centre had assured the apex court that it did not support cow vigilantism, and argued that it was the responsibility of states to curb violence in their jurisdiction.
“…The central government does not have any role in it. However, it is of the view that no vigilante group has any space in the country as per procedures of law,” Ranjit Kumar, who represented the Centre as the solicitor general at the time, had said.
Cow vigilantism, which has seen scores of cattle traders, mostly Muslim, lynched, has been condemned by the political class too.
In 2017, the PM had used his first ever town hall to make a scathing attack, saying: “Most of these people are anti-social elements hiding behind the mask of gau rakshaks.”
Former President Pranab Mukherjee had weighed in too. “We have to pause and reflect when mob frenzy becomes uncontrollable,” he said.
1. The Supreme Court has appropriately observed that horrendous acts of mobocracy cannot be allowed. 2. I think a separate law for dealing with social crime like lynching may be a good idea, but more than that we require is political and administrative will to deal firmly with those who indulge in such crimes. 3. Incidentally, we in Maharashtra are silent observers of another kind of mobocracy. Thousands of litres of milk is being thrown on roads as a part of agitation by ‘farmers’ since yesterday. We citizens who live in urban areas have become targets of politically sponsored hooliganism. We are being used as pawns by the politicians. What can law do about such social crimes?
This is the creation of Modi government. They initially kept quiet in lieu of state elections. Now it’s out of control. Fanatic people were encouraged by BJP Government to their advantage. Modi ji, even if you try now, your government can’t control. Any law may not contain this menace. BJP is solely responsible for this menace.
One is not sure if a new law is in fact necessary. Causing grievous injury and murder are already serious crimes under the Indian Penal Code. Prosecuting offenders with thoroughness and a complete absence of the desire to shield the guilty – as has happened in Rajasthan – and then trial courts rendering timely judgments would send out a good message, as would not garlanding convicts who have secured bail. Since law and order is a state subject, a special duty lies on chief ministers to take these cases – including some truly horrific cases where women are being violated and subjected to brutality – very personally, leaving the DGPs in no doubt that they must uphold the law with the force of a tropical cyclone.