Bench terms killings ‘horrendous mobocracy’; tells govt. to take preventive steps

Highlights

• Describing lynching’s and mob violence as “creeping threats”, the court warned that the rising wave of frenzied mobs — fed by fake news, self-professed morality and false stories — would consume the country like a “typhoon-like monster.”
• It said the primary obligation of the government is to protect all individuals irrespective of race, caste, class or religion. “Crime knows no religion and neither the perpetrator nor the victim can be viewed through the lens of race, caste, class or religion,” the court observed
• It directed several preventive, remedial and punitive measures to deal with lynching and mob violence.

Preventive Measures

• The court directed state governments to designate a senior police officer, not below the rank of Superintendent of Police and assisted by a DSP, as nodal officer in each district to take steps to prevent mob violence and lynching.
• The two officers will in turn constitute a special task force to collect intelligence on those likely to commit such crimes or be involved in spreading hate speeches, provocative statements and fake news.
• The nodal officer shall hold monthly meetings with local intelligence units and Station House Officers to identify tendencies of vigilantism, mob violence or lynching and take steps to prohibit instances of dissemination of offensive material through social media or any other means.
• The Director General of Police of the state or Secretary, Home department, must hold regular review meetings with nodal officers and state police intelligence heads.
• The court asked the Union Home Ministry to take the initiative and work in co-ordination with state governments to sensitise law enforcement agencies in identifying measures for prevention of mob violence and lynching.

       Remedial measures

• it asked state governments to prepare a lynching/mob violence victim compensation scheme within one month. It should have a provision for interim relief to be paid to the victim(s) or next of kin within a period of thirty days of the incident.
• Cases of lynching and mob violence shall be specifically tried by designated court/fast track courts. There should be day to day basis hearings and it should be “preferably concluded within six months from the date of taking cognizance”.
• “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”, the Supreme Court said.
• Failure on the part of police officers to comply with its directions should be “considered as an act of deliberate negligence and/or misconduct” and appropriate action, not limited to departmental action, should be taken.

Source: The Hindu