(FE)
The Uttar Pradesh State Law Commission, taking suo motu cognizance of incidents of mob lynchings in the state, submitted the draft Uttar Pradesh Combating of Lynching Bill, 2019 to state chief minsiter Yogi Adityanath. The draft Bill recommends that mob lynching be recognised as a separate criminal offence—currently, incidents of mob lynching are treated as cases of assault, grievous assault, or homicide, as the case may be—with strict punishment, ranging from up to seven years’ imprisonment and a Rs 1 lakh fine for the assailants, including those involved in conspiracy or abetment, if the victim is injured to a maximum of life sentence and a Rs 5 lakh in case of asault leading to the victim’s death. It also recommends a maximum jail term of three years, along with a Rs 5,000 fine for state officials found to be in dereliction of duty. Further, the recommendation defines creation of a hostile environment, including public humiliation, deprivation of basic human rights, forced eviction, etc, as a criminal offence punishable with six months of imprisonment.
In a state that has seen as many as 20 distinct instances of mob lynchings which have claimed 54 victims, leaving 11 dead and 29 with major injuries, in a span of seven-and-a-half years, the draft Bill is much-needed and the state government should lose no time in accepting and implementing these recommendations if it wants to make good on its promise of reducing crime in the state. To be sure, navigating the judicial terrain will still be challenge—affixing blame on a crowd instead of one person dealing the killer blow will have to negotiate many legal hurdles, and injuries not being manifest and death occurring later due to internal injuries may complicate investigations and eventually trials. But, adopting the model law would be a good first step.
