The proposed Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita 2023, which is expected to replace the Indian Penal Code (IPC) once passed by the Parliament, includes a section prescribing capital punishment for mob lynching. Section 101 of the Bill, which corresponds to section 302 of the IPC that deals with punishment for murder, contains a newly added subsection that prescribes the death penalty, life imprisonment, or imprisonment for a minimum term of seven years for murders committed by a group of five or more persons. While the Bill does not use the term ‘mob lynching’, it deals with murders committed by a group on grounds of race, caste or community, sex, place of birth, language, personal belief, etc.
Section 101(2) of the Bill reads, “When a group of five or more persons acting in concert commits murder on the ground of race, caste or community, sex, place of birth, language, personal belief or any other ground each member of such group shall be punished with death or with imprisonment for life or imprisonment for a term which shall not be less than seven years, and shall also be liable to fine.”
Introducing the Bill in the Lok Sabha on Friday, August 11, Union Home Minister Amit Shah said, “The clause on mob lynching has been carefully drafted. Minimum seven years imprisonment, life imprisonment, and death penalty – all three have been provided as punishment for mob lynching.” Currently, India does not have legislation that deals with mob lynching.
Signalling the repeal and replacement of three major laws that govern the criminal justice system in India, Amit Shah on Wednesday tabled the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita 2023 (in place of IPC), Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita 2023 (instead of CrPC) and the Bharatiya Sakshya Adhiniyam 2023 (to replace Indian Evidence Act). The bills have been sent to a Parliamentary Committee for further scrutiny.