The Union government, on Tuesday, informed the Lok Sabha that it had issued advisories to state governments and Union Territory administrations last year to take measures to curb incidents of mob lynching.
Minister of State for Home Affairs Nityanand Rai was responding to the questions raised by CPI leaders and Lok Sabha MPs (Members of Parliament) from Tamil Nadu, K Subbarayan (Tiruppur) and M Selvaraj (Nagapattinam).
The MPs asked about the Supreme Court direction on the enactment of the law against lynchings in July this year, asking whether states have enacted laws to make mob lynching a non-bailable offence and recommend life imprisonment for those involved in such violence.
The Union government said that it issued advisories to states and Union Territories on July 23 and September 25 last year, based on the Supreme Court order dated July 17, 2018.
In addition to creating awareness through audio-visual media, the government said it has sensitised service providers to take steps to check the spread of false news and rumours that have the potential to incite violence and lynching.
The Supreme Court had last year directed that state governments should constitute a special task force to gather intelligence on people who are likely to commit such crimes or those involved in spreading hate speeches, provocative statements and fake news. The state government should also identify district, sub-divisions and/or villages where instances of lynching and mob violence have been reported in the last five years.
A Nodal Officer, that is, a senior police officer (not below the rank of Superintendent of Police), should take steps to prevent instances of dissemination of offensive material against any community or caste through social media platforms or any other means.
If an FIR (first information report) about mob lynching has been registered, the Station House Officer of the particular police station must intimate the Nodal Officer, who, in turn, will ensure that the family members of the victim(s) are not subjected to further harassment.
The SC had also directed the state governments to prepare a compensation scheme for victims of lynching/mob violence, per provisions of section 357A of Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC), within one month from the date of the SC judgment on July 7, 2018.
However, many states are yet to implement a law offering compensation to such victims. The Centre also told the Lok Sabha that only Rajasthan and Manipur have enacted such a law.
The Supreme Court had also recommended that the Parliament create a separate offence for lynching and provide adequate punishment for the same. In July 2019, the Supreme Court asked Parliament to consider enacting a legislature to strictly deal with mob lynching cases. It warned that such incidents may give rise like a “typhoon-like monster” in India.
To the question on what states have done to enact laws, the Minister said two bills on the matter have been passed by Manipur and Rajasthan state legislative Assemblies, and have been reserved by the Governor for the President’s consideration. “The Bills so received are examined in consultation with the Central Ministries concerned,” the reply added.
The crime data for 2017 released by the National Crime Records Bureau has no mention of the deaths by mob lynching, although it is believed that the data on such deaths was collected. In 2017, around seven incidents of mob lynchings were reported by the Indian media, including the lynching of Pehlu Khan, which was caught on camera.
In July this year, 49 celebrities, including filmmakers Mani Ratnam, Adoor Gopalakrishnan, actor-directors Revathy and Konkona Sen Sharma, wrote an open letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the rising incidence of hate crimes in India. In their letter, the signatories noted that “Jai Shri Ram” had become a provocative war cry, and requested the PM to stop the use of Ram in this manner.
Soon after this, 62 other celebrities, including actor Kangana Ranaut, filmmaker Vivek Agnihotri and lyricist Prasoon Joshi, shot off a counter letter, accusing the 49 personalities of showing "selective concern and demonstrated clear political bias and motive” and attempting “to foist a false narrative”.
However, on October 2, a sedition case was filed against the 49 celebrities.
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