SC issues notice on mob lynching

The Supreme Court on Friday issued a notice to the Centre and several states on a plea seeking an action taken report on a slew of directions issued last year to curb repeated incidents of mob lynching and violence.

A bench of Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi and Justice Deepak Gupta sought a response from the Ministry of Home Affairs, NHRC and state governments of Uttar Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir, Jharkhand, Haryana, Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat, Rajasthan, West Bengal, Bihar, Assam and Madhya Pradesh on a petition filed by a Pilibhit-based organisation, 'Anti-Corruption Council of India Trust'.

Senior advocate Anukul Chandra Pradhan, appearing for the trust, said incidents of lynching were increasing and no step was being taken to implement the directions of the apex court passed in a writ petition filed by Tehseen Poonawalla, for dealing with the menace of mob lynching.

The trust said a slew of directions passed on July 17, 2018, by the apex court to the government to provide "preventive, remedial and punitive measures" to deal with offences like mob violence have not been implemented.

The apex court had then asked Parliament to consider enacting a new law to sternly deal with mob lynching and cow vigilantism, warning that such incidents may rise like a "Typhon-like monster" across the country.

The top court had said that it was the duty of the states to promote fraternity among citizens as mob violence was being instigated by intolerance and misinformation.