Mob vigilantism is a crime no matter what the intent: SC

NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court (SC) said on Tuesday that mob lynching is a crime no matter what the motive is and added that it is a law and order issue that is the responsibility of state governments.

That is, the apex court said whether a lynching happens as a result of cow vigilantism or because people believe someone is a child abductor, it doesn’t matter - lynching is a crime, period.

Putting the onus on the states to check cow vigilantism, the top court on Tuesday reserved its verdict on pleas seeking directions to formulate guidelines to curb such violence, saying no one can take the law into their hands.

Instances of vigilantism were acts of mob violence, which are a crime, said the SC. The top court said it plans to issue guidelines to the Centre as well as all states on how to deal with this disturbing phenomenon.

The Centre, in its submission, told the three-judge bench of Supreme Court that mob lynching is a law and order problem and the Court may deal with the state governments if they are not following its order.

On September 6 last year, the apex court had asked all the states to take stern measures to stop violence in the name of cow protection, including appointing of senior police officers as nodal officer in every district within a week and acting promptly to check cow vigilantes from behaving like they are “law unto themselves”.

The apex court had sought a response from Rajasthan, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh governments on a plea seeking contempt action for not following its order to take stern steps to stop violence in the name of cow vigilantism.

Social media rumours about childlifters have claimed several lives by mob lynching in Maharashtra. Just on Sunday, five people were lynched - despite police intervention - by a group of men visiting Dhule village in north Maharashtra. According to police, there were rumours for the last few days that a gang of child lifters was active in the area.

In Tamil Nadu’s Perumampatti village in Trichy district, two men just about escaped becoming a lynching statistic when they were beaten up by villagers on suspicion that they were child lifters.

So far, there have been 13 incidents of lynching related to rumours circulated through Whatsapp about suspected child lifters and kidnappers resulting in the murders of 27 people, in less than two months. Fake Whatsapp messages whip up a frenzy in minutes, and before any sanity can prevail, innocents have been clobbered to death. Mobs are mobilised in seconds because the news has reached scores at the same time, giving real-time details of the socalled suspects.

Last month, cow vigilantism surfaced yet again, this time in Jharkhand where two Muslim men were lynched on suspicion of cattle theft.