A new era of justice by people Mob Lynching- Supreme Court guidelines.
A 70 year old, pleading for
life was not spared by mob. How protected we are in demographic society. How the
state is protecting the subject.
The main role of police is
to protect the life of people and if the citizen become helpless where will
they go.
The police in a democratic
polity perform multiple and complex tasks towards this objective, the police
have to be an effective organization for the prevention, detection and
investigation of crime, maintenance of law and order, protection of lives,
liberties, and honor and possessions of the people, to bring offenders to
justice and to render honest and impartial service of the people.
However, the changing internal security
scenario has added a new dimension to the tasks of the police and brought the
police force closer to the center.
State of governance within
the increasingly tentative internal security situation in large parts of the
country consequently, it is an urgent imperative to secure a police organization that is
structurally cohesive functionally competent and operationally oriented to fulfill
the wide ranging goals of the organization in providing efficient as well as
qualitative services to the people in performing this, the police must maintain
highest standards of integrity professionalism and service orientation while
acting within the framework of the constitution and laws of the land.
The supreme court of India
has issued guidelines and order
Preventive measures,
Remedial measures, and
Punitive measures, to
curb the menace of mob lynching
In terms of the ruling of this Court in Arumugam Servai v. State of Tamil Nadu
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.
SUPREME COURT GUIDELINES FOR
PREVENTION OF MOB VIOLENCE AND LYNCHING AGAINST ANY CASTE OR COMMUNITY. (WRIT
PETITION (CIVIL) NO. 754 OF 2016)
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 Government 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 sensitizing 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 should 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 ort 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/o9r
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.
Responsibility of the
State.
State have the legal obligation
to protect and promote
human rights, including the right to social security, and ensure that people can
realize their rights without discrimination.
Discliamer:
The material and view is prepared by Adv Bishwa Kumar Jain and is the
result of personal knowledge and have no legal value. The information and views
are not intended to create, a legal relationship or advertisement. The reader
should not rely or act upon this information without seeking professional
counsel or legal advisor or an Advocate. The author shall not be responsible
for any loss in any way what so ever and in any manner.
Bishwa Kumar Jain # B com (h). L.L.B. DIP Cyber Law. Member International Arbitration U.K. Practice Advocate Supreme Court and High Court of Delhi.
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