In order to curb the growing menace of mob lyniching the
Supreme Court has issued following guidelines to be followed by the State to
controle and tackle with the cases of moblynching.
Directing
the State Governments the Supreme Court in case of Tehseen S. Poonawalla Vs. Union of India and others ( WRIT
PETITION (CIVIL) NO. 754 OF 2016 Dated 17 July 2018) observed that the State shall take
following measures to fight effectively the menace of mob lynching:-
A.
Preventive Measures
(i)
The State Governments shall designate, a senior police officer, not below the
rank of Superintendent of Police, as Nodal Officer in each district. Such Nodal
Officer shall be assisted by one of the DSP rank officers in the district for
taking measures to prevent incidents of mob violence and lynching. They shall
constitute a special task force so as to procure intelligence reports about the
people who are likely to commit such crimes or who are involved in spreading
hate speeches, provocative statements and fake news.
(ii) The State Governments shall forthwith identify
Districts, Sub-Divisions and/or Villages where instances of lynching and mob
violence have been reported in the recent past, say, in the last five years.
The process of identification should be done within a period of three weeks
from the date of this judgment, as such time period is sufficient to get the
task done in today's fast world of data collection.
(iii)
The Secretary, Home Department of the concerned States shall issue directives/advisories
to the Nodal Officers of the concerned districts for ensuring that the Officer
In-charge of the Police Stations of the identified areas are extra cautious if
any instance of mob violence within their jurisdiction comes to their notice.
(iv) The Nodal Officer, so designated, shall hold regular
meetings (at least once a month) with the local intelligence units in the
district along with all Station House Officers of the district so as to
identify the existence of the tendencies of vigilantism, mob violence or
lynching in the district and take steps to prohibit instances of dissemination
of offensive material through different social media platforms or any other
means for inciting such tendencies. The Nodal Officer shall also make efforts
to eradicate hostile environment against any community or caste which is
targeted in such incidents.
(v)
The Director General of Police/the Secretary, Home Department of the concerned
States shall take regular review meetings (at least once a quarter) with all
the Nodal Officers and State Police Intelligence heads. The Nodal Officers
shall bring to the notice of the DGP any inter-district co-ordination issues
for devising a strategy to tackle lynching and mob violence related issues at
the State level.
(vi) It shall be the duty of every police officer to cause a
mob to disperse, by exercising his power under Section 129 of CrPC, which, in
his opinion, has a tendency to cause violence or wreak the havoc of lynching in
the disguise of vigilantism or otherwise.
(vii)
The Home Department of the Government of India must take initiative and work in
co-ordination with the State Governments for sensitising the law enforcement
agencies and by involving all the stake holders to identify the measures for
prevention of mob violence and lynching against any caste or community and to
implement the constitutional goal of social justice and the Rule of Law.
(viii) The Director General of Police shall issue a circular
to the Superintendents of Police with regard to police patrolling in the
sensitive areas keeping in view the incidents of the past and the intelligence
obtained by the office of the Director General. It singularly means that there
should be seriousness in patrolling so that the anti-social elements involved in
such crimes are discouraged and remain within the boundaries of law thus
fearing to even think of taking the law into their own hands.
(ix)
The Central and the State Governments should broadcast on radio and television
and other media platforms including the official websites of the Home
Department and Police of the States that lynching and mob violence of any kind
shall invite serious consequence under the law.
(x) It shall be the duty of the Central Government as well as
the State Governments to take steps to curb and stop dissemination of
irresponsible and explosive messages, videos and other material on various
social media platforms which have a tendency to incite mob violence and
lynching of any kind.
(xi)
The police shall cause to register FIR under Section 153A of IPC and/or other
relevant provisions of law against persons who disseminate irresponsible and
explosive messages and videos having content which is likely to incite mob
violence and lynching of any kind.
(xii) The Central Government shall also issue appropriate
directions/advisories to the State Governments which would reflect the gravity
and seriousness of the situation and the measures to be taken.
B.
Remedial Measures
(i)
Despite the preventive measures taken by the State Police, if it comes to the
notice of the local police that an incident of lynching or mob violence has
taken place, the jurisdictional police station shall immediately cause to lodge
an FIR, without any undue delay, under the relevant provisions of IPC and/or
other provisions of law.
(ii) It shall be the duty of the Station House Officer, in
whose police station such FIR is registered, to forthwith intimate the Nodal
Officer in the district who shall, in turn, ensure that there is no further
harassment of the family members of the victim(s).
(iii)
Investigation in such offences shall be personally monitored by the Nodal
Officer who shall be duty bound to ensure that the investigation is carried out
effectively and the charge-sheet in such cases is filed within the statutory
period from the date of registration of the FIR or arrest of the accused, as
the case may be.
(iv) The State Governments shall prepare a lynching/mob
violence victim compensation scheme in the light of the provisions of Section
357A of CrPC within one month from the date of this judgment. In the said
scheme for computation of compensation, the State Governments shall give due
regard to the nature of bodily injury, psychological injury and loss of
earnings including loss of opportunities of employment and education and
expenses incurred on account of legal and medical expenses. The said
compensation scheme must also have a provision for interim relief to be paid to
the victim(s) or to the next of kin of the
deceased within a period of thirty days of the incident of mob
violence/lynching.
(v)
The cases of lynching and mob violence shall be specifically tried by
designated court/Fast Track Courts earmarked for that purpose in each district.
Such courts shall hold trial of the case on a day to day basis. The trial shall
preferably be concluded within six months from the date of taking cognizance.
We may hasten to add that this direction shall apply to even pending cases. The
District Judge shall assign those cases as far as possible to one jurisdictional
court so as to ensure expeditious disposal thereof. It shall be the duty of the
State Governments and the Nodal Officers in particular to see that the
prosecuting agency strictly carries out its role in appropriate furtherance of
the trial.
(vi) To set a stern example in cases of mob violence and
lynching, upon conviction of the accused person(s), the trial court must
ordinarily award maximum sentence as provided for various offences under the
provisions of the IPC.
(vii)
The courts trying the cases of mob violence and lynching may, on application by
a witness or by the public prosecutor in relation to such witness or on its own
motion, take such measures, as it deems fit, for protection and for concealing
the identity and address of the witness.
(viii) The victim(s) or the next of kin of the deceased in
cases of mob violence and lynching shall be given timely notice of any court
proceedings and he/she shall be entitled to be heard at the trial in respect of
applications such as bail, discharge, release and parole filed by the accused
persons. They shall also have the right to file written submissions on
conviction, acquittal or sentencing.
(ix)
The victim(s) or the next of kin of the deceased in cases of mob violence and
lynching shall receive free legal aid if he or she so chooses and engage any
advocate of his/her choice from amongst those enrolled in the legal aid panel
under the Legal Services Authorities Act, 1987.
C.
Punitive Measures
(i) Wherever it is found that a police officer or an officer
of the district administration has failed to comply with the aforesaid
directions in order to prevent and/or investigate and/or facilitate expeditious
trial of any crime of mob violence and lynching, the same shall be considered
as an act of deliberate negligence and/or misconduct for which appropriate
action must be taken against him/her and not limited to departmental action
under the service rules. The departmental action shall be taken to its logical
conclusion preferably within six months by the authority of the first instance.
(ii)
In terms of the ruling of this Court in Arumugam Servai v. State of Tamil Nadu21,
the States are directed to take disciplinary action against the concerned officials
if it is found that (i) such official(s) did not prevent the incident, despite
having prior knowledge of it, or (ii) where the incident has already occurred,
such official(s) did not promptly apprehend and institute criminal proceedings
against the culprits. 41. The measures that are directed to be taken have to be
carried out within four weeks by the Central and the State Governments. Reports
of compliance be filed within the said period before the Registry of this
Court.
It is the duty of the State to
ensure that the machinery of law and order functions efficiently and
effectively in maintaining peace so as to preserve our quintessentially secular
ethos and pluralistic social fabric in a democratic set-up governed by rule of
law. In times of chaos and anarchy, the State has to act positively and
responsibly to safeguard and secure the constitutional promises to its
citizens.
The horrendous acts of mobocracy cannot be permitted to inundate the
law of the land. Earnest action and concrete steps have to be taken to protect
the citizens from the recurrent pattern of violence which cannot be allowed to
become “the new normal”.
The State cannot turn a deaf ear to the growing rumblings
of its People, since its concern, to quote Woodrow Wilson, “must ring with the
voices of the people.” The exigencies of the situation require us to sound a
clarion call for earnest action to strengthen our inclusive and all-embracing
social order which would, in turn, reaffirm the constitutional faith. We expect
nothing more and nothing less.
Apart
from the directions we have given herein before and what we have expressed, we
think it appropriate to recommend to the legislature, that is, the Parliament,
to create a separate offence for lynching and provide adequate punishment for
the same. We have said so as a special law in this field would instill a sense
of fear for law amongst the people who involve themselves in such kinds of
activities. There can be no trace of doubt that fear of law and veneration for
the command of law constitute the foundation of a civilized society.
