Comply with mob lynching order, says Supreme Court

New Delhi: The Supreme Court Monday asked the Centre, all States and Union Territories to give wide publicity to the directions given in July this year to curb cow vigilantism as people must realise that mob violence and taking law into their hands will invite wrath of law. A three-judge bench of Chief Justice Dipak Misra and Justices A.M. Khanwilkar and D.Y. Chandrachud while giving this direction on petitions filed by Tehseen Poonawala and others dealing with ‘cow vigilantism’ granted a week’s time to eight States and Union Territories to comply with its directions on curbing cow vigilantism and mob lynching.

The bench took note of the fact that eight states including Mizoram, Telangana, Meghalaya, Arunachal Pradesh and Delhi are yet to file reports indicating the compliance of its July 17 verdict within three days and directing listing of the petitions after two weeks.  It asked them to put the information on measures to curb the mob violence on their websites so that people know the recourse available to them.

When senior counsel Indira Jaising submitted that one of the directions to the Centre and States that the direction with regard to giving wide publicity in Television and Radio had not been complied with, Attorney General K.K. Venugopal informed the court that steps would be taken for giving publicity within one week.

In the last hearing the Attorney General had informed the bench that in pursuance of the apex court verdict, an empowered Group of Ministers has been set up to consider framing a law on mob violence.  Acting on a petition filed by Tehseen S. Poonawalla and others the court in July  suggested to Parliament to enact a law to make lynching a separate offence including the provision for compensation to victims.