While addressing the Lok Sabha on Tuesday, the Central government informed the Parliament that it has issued advisories to state and union territories to keep a check on mob lynching in the country.
Centre’s response came as a reply to Communist Party of India (CPI) MPs K Subbarayan and M Selvaraj’s concern on the growing cases of mob violence in India.
Minister of State for Home Nityanand Rai told the House that the government has sensitised people through audiovisual media to curb false news. He also said that as per the Supreme Court’s directions, people are being made aware of rumours that are distributed across social media platforms especially WhatsApp to incite mob violence.
In July 2018, the SC passed a slew of directions for the Centre and states to check the incident of mob lynching in India. The court also recommended that Parliament should enact a separate law to punish the perpetrators of such crimes.
“In pursuance to the Hon’ble Supreme Court’s Judgement dated 17.07.2018, advisories dated 23.07.2018 and 25.09.2018 were issued to the State Governments and Union Territory Administrations for taking measures to curb incidents of mob lynching in the country. The government through audio-visual has also generated public awareness to curb the menace of mob lynching,” the answer of the Centre read.
While official data has not yet been released or maintained on the growing cases of mob lynchings, Centre has assured that the advisories will be implemented diligently across the states. Centre mentioned that the two states – Rajasthan and Manipur, have submitted Bills to the Centre regarding laws to deal with such mob killings.
Rai ensured that the two states have made lynching a non-bailable offence and have recommended life imprisonment for the perpetrators. The Bills have been received by the Governor for consideration of the President on the subject passed by state legislatures of Manipur and Rajasthan.
“The Bills so received are examined in consultation with the Central ministries concerned,” Rai added in his speech.
When asked on the number of people killed in mob violence, Rai said, “The National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) does not maintain data with respect to mob lynching. However, the Ministry of Home Affairs has issued advisories to States and UTs, from time to time, to maintain law and order and ensure that any person who takes the law into his/her hand is punished promptly as per law.”
