Govt forms GoM to tackle lynching

Concerned over the spike in lynching incidents, the government on Monday set up a Group of Ministers (GoM) led by Home Minister Rajnath Singh to finalise a plan of action after a high-level committee chaired by Home Secretary Rajiv Gauba submits its recommendations.

The government move came after the Supreme Court directed the government to take stringent action and make laws specific to lynching.

The killing of a man in Rajasthan's Alwar on suspicion of smuggling cows also rocked Parliament on Monday following which Rajnath Singh announced the constitution of a high-level committee under the home secretary. The GoM will subsequently study the suggestions and make recommendations to Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

The Ministry of Home Affairs has already sought a report from the Rajasthan government on the incident in which a man was thrashed by a group of people in Lalawandi village in Alwar on Saturday on suspicion of being a cow smuggler.

"The government is concerned at the incidents of violence by mobs in some parts of the country. The government has already condemned such incidents and made its stand clear in Parliament that it is committed to upholding the rule of law and adopting effective measures to curb such incidents," an official statement said.

The high-level committee will have secretaries of departments of legal affairs, justice, legislature and social justice and empowerment as members. They will "deliberate and make recommendations" and submit them to the GoM within four weeks.

The GoM, which has External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj, Transport Minister Nitin Gadkari, Law Minister Ravishankar Prasad and Social Justice and Empowerment Minister Tawarchand Gehlot as members, will then consider the recommendations of the high-level committee and submit a final report to the prime minister.

The statement said the government respects the recent directions of the Supreme Court on the issue of mob violence, and has issued an advisory to states urging them to take effective measures to prevent incidents of mob violence and lynching and to take stringent action as per the law.