'Vigilantism Not Permissible': Supreme Court Seeks Data From Govts On Action Taken To Stop Mob Lynching

"Vigilantism is not permissible, needs to be checked", orally observed the Supreme Court on Monday while asking the States to share data regarding mob lynching cases.

A bench comprising Justice Sanjeev Khanna and Bela Trivedi was hearing the Tehseen Poonawalla case in which the Supreme Court in 2018 had issued several directions to the Union and States regarding measures to prevent mob lynching. The matter was posted again to monitor the follow-up action taken by the governments. 

Accepting a suggestion made by Attorney General for India R Venkataramani, the bench directed that the Ministry of Home Affairs shall convene a meeting of head of departments of states for consolidation of data for compliance with respect to preventive and remedial measures taken as per the judgment passed by the court in 2018.

The Court directed the states to file a status report before the home ministry. It also asked state governments to submit year wise data in which complaints were made and FIR registered.

BACKGROUND OF THE CASE

The Supreme court bench comprising of Justice Deepak Mishra, A.M. Khanwalikar and DY Chandrachud in 2018 in the context of growing vigilantism, mob lynching, communal violence and hate crimes had held that “the States have the onerous duty to see that no individual or any core group take law into their own hands. Every citizen has the right to intimate the police about the infraction of law.The process of adjudication takes place within hallowed precincts of justice and not on streets. No one has the right to become the guardian of law claiming that he has to protect the law by any means.”

Lynching is an affront to the rule of law and exalted values of constitution holds Supreme Court

The court further observed “Authorities which are conferred with the responsibility to maintain law and order in the States have the principal obligation to see that vigilantism, be it cow vigilantism or any other vigilantism of any perception, does not take place. When any core group with some kind of idea take the law into their own hands, it ushers in anarchy, chaos, disorder and, eventually, there is an emergence of a violent society. Lynching is an affront to the rule of law and to the exalted values of the Constitution itself. Such vigilantism, be it for whatever purpose or borne out of whatever cause, has the effect of undermining the legal and formal institutions of the State and altering the constitutional order”

Essence of nation cannot be broken by narrow domestic walls of caste, class, religion

The court opined that “Mob vigilantism and mob violence have to be prevented by the governments by taking strict action and by the vigil society who ought to report such incidents to the state machinery and the police instead of taking the law into their own hands. Rising intolerance and growing polarisation expressed through spate of incidents of mob violence cannot be permitted to become the normal way of life or the normal state of law and order in the country.”

It further noted that “Lynching and mob violence are creeping threats that may gradually take the shape of a Typhon-like monster as evidenced in the wake of the rising wave of incidents of recurring patterns by frenzied mobs across the country instigated by intolerance and misinformed by circulation of fake news and false stories”

The Supreme court had earlier directed certain measures as follows-

Preventive Measures

• The State Governments shall designate, a senior police officer, not below the rank of Superintendent of Police, as Nodal Officer in each district to prevent incidents of mob violence and lynching
• The State Governments shall forthwith identify areas where instances of lynching and mob violence have been reported.
• It shall be the duty of every police officer to cause a mob to disperse, by exercising his power under Section 129 of CrPC
• 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 incident
• The police shall cause to register FIR under Section 153A of IPC and/or other relevant provisions of law against persons who disseminate irresponsible

Remedial measures

• The jurisdictional police station shall immediately cause to lodge an FIR
• 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
• The State Governments shall prepare a lynching/mob violence victim compensation scheme in the light of the provisions of Section 357A of CrPC
• The cases of lynching and mob violence shall be specifically tried by designated court/Fast Track Courts earmarked for that purpose in each district

Case title: Tehseen S. Poonawalla v. Union of India, W.P.(C) No. 000754 / 2016

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