VIVEKANANDA INSTITUTE OF PROFESSIONAL STUDIES,

(GGSIPU), NEW DELHI

HUMAN RIGHTS AND MOB LYNCHING : A WARNING AGAINST MOBOCRACY

Submitted to: Submitted by:

Ms. Kanchan Lavania Shivastuti

Asst. Professor, VSLLS 13017703520

VII “M”
BBA. LL.B. (H)
 INTRODUCTION

Mark Twain in his essay, ‘The United States of Lyncherdom’ talks about Moral Cowardice as
an innate characteristic of man wherein he wrote in the context of lynching being rampant in
the United States back then, but who knew his essay would become relevant to the Indian
paradigm and the honourable Supreme Court would use it as a reference in the landmark case
of Tahseen S. Poonawala v. Union of India and Ors.1, while taking a moral stand against
rising intolerance and growing polarisations.
Indian Constitution is a glorious record bestowing the country with the attributes of being
sovereign, democratic and republic. In a country with democratic system, the citizens are
entitled to various freedoms encompassing an option to freely live, eat, trade and most
importantly have their own protection and privacy. Be that as it may, today these rights are in
question for certain minorities, religion and caste based to name a few. These minorities, who
add to the mainstream and assorted nature of this nation, are under consistent danger. They are
in constant threat and dread being pummelled and executed for what they eat or exchange. The
principle of solidarity and integrity of the country which is fused in the Preamble of our
Constitution simply appears to have disappeared like a phantom in the current situation.
As of late, especially since 2014, India has fallen prey to rising number of lynching
occurrences. Cow vigilantism has prompted mutual agitation in the general public and has
additionally instigated dread in the individuals for what they burn-through or consume,
debilitating the fundamental right to life and liberty of certain minorities in the Northern piece
of India.
The situation becomes more worrisome in light of the leniency showed by the Executive in
implementing the laws and neglecting to check this savagery by not examining and indicting
appropriately in greater part of such incidences. The subjects of this violence have been denied
their essential basic freedoms and surprisingly their entitlement to life cherished in our
Constitution too.
This project is an attempt to comprehend the basic reason for lynching and its deadening impact
on the constitutional rights of religious and caste-based minorities in India. It further inspects
the position of current law and proceeds to prescribe steps to overcome any barrier among law
and its successful execution.

1
(2018) 9 SCC 501.

2
 INTRODUCTION OF MOB LYNCHING

Lynching, though, is difficult to be defined but Black Laws dictionary has attempted to limit it
into a definition which says “A term descriptive of the action of unofficial persons, organized
bands, or mobs, who seize persons charged with or suspected of crimes, or take them out of the
custody of the law, and inflict summary punishment upon them, without legal trial, and without
the warrant or authority of law.”2 Thus, one can conclude that lynching is simply one more
name for severe homicide. The historical backdrop of lynching proves that it has always been
existing as it can be followed back to the seventeenth century, especially 1877-1950, where
blacks were mercilessly lynched by whites in the United States of America. As stated in a
study, “the southern of American continent alone saw 3800 deaths on account of mob violence.
Out of this, 84%, were African Americans who met their destiny extinguished by their
contemporary white lynchers. Men were incomprehensibly bound to be the subjects of Judge
Lynch's retaliation, with 3.1% of victims being females of one or the other race. Georgia and
Mississippi together represented more than 33% of the victims of southern crowd brutality,
albeit others during this time.”3

The victims of most of these occurrences were ruthlessly tormented by being swung from trees
or shot with bullets to death in wide sunshine before many onlookers. In March 1931, an
infamous American lynching incident took place involving nine black teenagers who were
accused of raping two white women on a train. A group of 500 individuals had gathered,
threatening to lynch the accused. As a precaution, National Guardsmen were stationed around
the jail to prevent any violence. Eventually, the guards had to escort the accused out of town to
a safer location.4 Later, a general decrease in the occurrence of lynching was noticed inferable
from the demonstrations of brave authorities, development of legal systems with strict
punishments and intervention of citizens. The post-World War II scenario witnessed local
authorities figuring out ways to extinguish such episodes of lynching.

India has seen regular killings as of lately for the sake of “cow protection”, as the lynchers
claim, resulting in spread dread among certain class of individuals. A study of India Spend has
analysed the records and released a report mentioning that “from 2010 to 2017, 57% of the

2
Lynching definition Blacks Law Dictionary (9th ed. 2009), available at Westlaw.
3
Stewart E. Tolnay and E. M. Beck, Festival of Violence: An Analysis of Southern Lynchings, 1882–1930
(Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 1995).
4
Daniel T. Carter, Scottsboro: A Tragedy of the American South (Louisiana State University, 2007).

3
victims of mob violence attacks were Muslims.”5 The majority of these assaults occurred on
simple doubts or bits of gossips identifying with cow butcher with no proofs at all. According
to Upneet Lalli, a psychologist and deputy director of the Institute of Correctional
Administration in Chandigarh, the violence in India that started with cow-related vigilantism
has now escalated to include more reasons for violent behavior. He explained that videos of
victims being tied up and begging for their lives have been widely circulated, and social media
has contributed to the increase in incidents of lynching and the spread of hatred in society. Lalli
emphasized that crime is not limited to any particular religion and that it is the state's
responsibility to protect all of its citizens regardless of their caste, class, race, sex, or religion.

“Lynching is an outright infringement of law and order which can't turn into the thing to take
care of, be it for the sake of cow security, or alleged brutal treatment being subjected to cows.
That is an altogether different issue but lynching for it could never be a form of punishment.
Horde viciousness is an impression of bigotry in a democratic society because of the stubborn
considerations or orthodoxic thoughts of certain groups.”6 Lately, some heart-breaking
occurrences of mob violence have led us to rethink the capacity of our country to withstand its
diverse culture. These occurrences likewise bring up the issue with respect to our obligation to
abide by the principles of secularism encapsulated in our Constitution. “Lynching disregards
the inborn right to life secured under Article 21 of the Constitution which bestows every
individual with an equal option to live with dignity, integrity and humanness.”7 This appalling
demonstration is an infringement of their freedom to eat inside the four corners of their house
or in any open space.

MOB LYNCHING AND INDIAN LAWS

As per the basic understanding of law, lynching can be characterised as “murder committed by
unlawful assembly”. Despite the fact that Indian Penal Code has all around characterized both
the offenses i. e. murder and unlawful assembly, and their punishment yet these don't appear
to be sufficient enough to check the mob violence. Tabrez Ansari, Prakash Ladka, and Akbar
Khan are among the individuals who have recently fallen victim to mob lynchings in India.
Between 2017 and 2018, no less than 33 people lost their lives, and 99 others sustained injuries

5
IndiaSpend, Hate Crime: Cow related Violence in India https://lynch.factchecker.in/index.php
6
https://blog.ipleaders.in/need-hour-reforms-mob-lynching-laws/#Recommendations
7
https://blog.ipleaders.in/need-hour-reforms-mob-lynching-laws/#Recommendations

4
in such vigilante attacks.8 This insufficiency of laws was recently surfaced in Supreme Court
in July 2018 in the well-known case of Tehseen S Poonawala v Union of India.9 The Court
focused on the significance of drafting new laws with respect to lynching and in outcome of
that, Rajasthan, in its assembly, turned into the first state to pass a bill against lynching named
"The Rajasthan Protection from Lynching Bill 2019" which rebuffs the convict with “life
imprisonment and a fine of up to Rupees 5 lakhs in instances of crowd lynching bringing about
the victim's demise.” Indian criminal law has attempted to condemn lynching by covering it
under the following provisions as there is no express arrangement with respect to the
equivalent:

• Section 302 IPC punishes accused for committing murder.

• Section 34 of IPC. This section defines common intention. When a criminal act is done
by several persons in furtherance of the common intention of all, each of such persons
is liable for that act in the same manner as if it were done by him alone.
• Section 304 IPC describes culpable homicide not amounting to murder.
• Section 307 explains attempt to murder.
• Section 325 of IPC deals with punishment for causing voluntary grievous hurt.
• Section 141 and Section 149 of IPC deal with unlawful assembly and makes every
member of unlawful assembly guilty of offence committed in prosecution of common
object.
• Section 120B of IPC defines criminal conspiracy.
• Section 223(a) of Cr.P.C. punishes persons commit same offence in the course of same
transaction.

MOB LYNCHING AND INTERNATIONAL OBLIGATIONS

With India being a party to a number of significant International agreements, she is guided by
the principles enunciated in them which help any country to curb lawlessness. They provide
references to the domestic courts and legislative to incorporate them in the domestic
legislations with international standards. The Universal Declaration of Human Rights

8
https://grojil.org/2020/03/04/call-for-red-letter-explicating-the-human-rights-in-the-backdrop-of-mob-lynching-
in-india/
9
(2018) 9 SCC 501.

5
[“UDHR”] identifies “the basic and fundamental human rights such as inherent dignity and
equal protection by law wherein Article 7 guarantees equality before the law without any
discrimination and provides protection against any incitement to such discrimination.”
The Supreme Court had referred to UDHR, in light of India being a signatory to it and,
consequently, held in Railway Board v. Mrs Chandrima Das10 that the basic human rights
established in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) have also been incorporated
into Part III of the Constitution. As a result, India has an obligation to prevent atrocious
incidents of mob lynching that infringe upon human rights.
It is also observed that lynching abused our commitment towards non-discrimination as it is
focused against a specific person which usually discriminates the entire community. To
substantiate the same, a study shows that “84% of lynching in India are accounted for to be
against the Muslim groups.”11 This obviously shows that barbarities and segregation are against
a specific community, Muslims are one of them being subjected to it among others. This abuses
our commitment under “Article 20(2) of the International Covenant on Civil and Political
Rights ["ICCPR"]12 and Article 2 of International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural
Rights ["ICESCR"] which forbid any racial or strict separation or induction to segregation or
brutality.”13
The episodes of mob lynching in India have gotten a worldwide condemnation as evident by
the statement of the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom
["USCIRF"] denouncing the lynching on Muslims in India. It has firmly denounced such
episodes in the accompanying words:
“We call on the Indian government to take concrete actions that will prevent this kind of
violence and intimidation by a thorough investigation of Ansari’s murder as well as the local
police’s handling of the case. Lack of accountability will only encourage those who believe
they can target religious minorities with impunity.”14

10
(2000) 2 SCC 465.
11
https://www.hindustantimes.com/india-news/86-killed-in-cow-related-violence-since-2010-are-muslims-97-
attacks-after-modi-govt-came-to-power/story-w9CYOksvgk9joGSSaXgpLO.html
12
https://treaties.un.org/doc/publication/unts/volume 999/volume-999-i-14668-english.pdf
13
OHCHR | International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights
14
USCIRF Statement on Mob Lynching of Muslim Man in India, June 26, 2019 https://www.uscirf.gov/news-
room/releases-statements/uscirf-statement-mob-lynching-muslim-man-india

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As a result of such incidents and condemnation at an international level, India has been placed
in Tier 2 for “engaging in religious tolerance violations in the UNCIRF’s recent report.”15 This
brings forth serious doubts as to the secularism that we talk about in our Constitution.

ANALYSING THE ATTEMPT OF THE INDIAN JUDICIARY IN CURBING MOB

LYNCHING

In 2018, while dealing with the case of Tehseen S. Poonawalla v. Union of India16, the Supreme
Court took notice of the increasing incidents of mob lynching in the name of cow protection in
India. It strongly criticized such acts of "mobocracy" and emphasized the need to prevent them.
The court has prescribed specific directives for preventing mob lynching, which involve the
implementation of preventive, remedial, and punitive measures by designated authorities in a
prompt and effective manner. The guidelines further mandate that the designated authority
collaborates closely with local authorities and intelligence units to keep a watchful eye on any
possible situation that may lead to mob lynching. Additionally, the court recommended that
the Parliament consider making lynching a separate offense. This means that much of focus
has been given to the preventive measures so that the offense can be handicapped at its
inception stage.
In spite of judiciary being cognizant of such incidents and enumerating guidelines and
constitutional safeguards, yet there has been a surge in occurrences of mob lynching and are
continue unbridled.
There could be several reasons for this, some of them being:

1. Absence of a special law on mob lynching. It’s regulation by the Indian Penal Code has
proven to be inefficient in handling or reducing the menace of mob lynching. In 2017 a
new legislation was proposed with the name “Manav Suraksha Kanoon [MASUKA]” by
the National Campaign against Mob Lynching to tackle the problem of mob lynching
however it could not formulate or executed into a full-fledged law.

15
https://www.uscirf.gov/sites/default/files/Tier2_INDIA_2019.pdf
16
Tehseen S. Poonawalla v. Union of India (2018) 9 SCC 501

7
2. The ban on beef added to this brutality as people assumed powers in their hands and took
certain innocents to public places where they were lynched for carrying beef or consuming
it, despite the same being premised on some baseless rumour or suspicions. The case of
Akbar Khan is a testament to the same.

3. The rise and influence of social media ranks first in spreading rumours or misinformation
which pollutes the thought process of users in such a way that they assume law and power
to lynch people in their hands. Within a period of two months, over twelve individuals were
killed in mob lynchings that resulted from rumors propagated through social media. In
2019, the matter was discussed in parliament, and the BJP government identified social
media as the sole factor behind the increase of this problem.17 Thankfully, the new IT Rules
have taken a note of dissemination of fake news by digital media but there is still a long
way to go.

4. Lack of confidence in police when couple with fake news can increase the crime rate by
mibs to a very large extent. The incident of WhatsApp news pertaining to child kidnapping
in Odisha, Tamil Nadu, Gujarat, Karnataka, Telangana, Tripura and West Bengal
crystallised these brutalities resulting in 20 people being lynched by mobs and several
others were injured. Unfortunately, out of all actual crimes only 40% reported by the
police.18

CONCLUSION

17
As mob lynchings fueled by WhatsApp messages sweep India, authorities struggle to combat fake news - The
Washington Post
18
Why mob violence menace takes epidemic form in India? | Arunachal Observer

8
Disregarding the enormous ascent of this harsh brutality of mob lynching, the Indian authorities
have not acted in a manner expected of them to forestall these grim episodes of mob lynching,
rather they have given superfluous defences for their inability to do as such. These ruthless
occurrences disregard “rule of law” and thoroughly decrease the crucial jurisprudential ideas
like ‘fair trial’ and ‘innocent until proven guilty’. The Supreme Court has correctly observed
that the lack of action from bystanders and the indifference of those who witness such crimes,
combined with ineffective laws and poor enforcement, allows this epidemic to spread and cause
the whole country to become a place of disorder and lawlessness.

A motivation can be drawn from USA to pave way for eradication of such lynching, as USA
has attempted to curb it by passing a special legislation named 'The Justice for Victims of
Lynching Act, 2018'. India, too, can strengthen MASUKA to be a special legislation against
lynching. The recent trends have already alarmed us to understand the desperate need of a
special legislation law like MASUKA curbing the issues of mob lynching or, in all likelihood
the country would be covered by the dimness of disorder and insurgency. The project is
concluded with a note that the sole solution to this harsh plague is to embrace a zero-resistance
approach towards this wrongdoing coupled with rapid formation of a legislation and prompt
implementation of the same.

RECOMMENDATIONS

The issue of mob lynching incidents in India and globally requires some modifications to be
addressed. The Indian government should take measures to guarantee that prompt
justice is served.

1. For instance, registering a FIR beyond delay, curbing cases that may further victimise
the vulnerable and marginalized, and curtailing bail applications that may raise a direct
danger to the victims and their families due to the associated crime.
2. Introduction of a mechanism to determine the amount of compensation for the loss and
access to the justice to the sufferer and his family. A free legal aid could be of good
use.
3. Consequently, in order to guarantee that victims of mob violence get justice, the
government needs to take necessary actions “to implement the Manav Suraksha Kanoon

9
 (MASUKA) regulation, that further stipulates the enactment of stringent laws for mob
lynching, and that rules pertaining to mob lynching would have to be non-bailable,
cognizable, and non-compoundable, and that life imprisonment be imposed in addition
to the death penalty.” In addition, restitution for victims' family and police intervention
must be sought in order to make sure witness safety.
4. If the Parliament proceeds in compliance with the Supreme Court’s recommendations
and enact a new law to deal with incidents of mob abuse, the legislature then will play
a vital part in improving rules against mob lynching. This should be done with the aim
of punishing lynchers as well as officials who are directly or indirectly involved in mob
lynching to the fullest extent possible. Additionally, the proposed legislation should
specify the word "mob lynching," which is currently not specified under any of the
existing laws.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

BOOKS
 Das Jatindra Kumar, Human Rights Law and Practice, 2016
 Dr. H.O. Agarwal, International Law and Human Rights, 21st Edition, 2016.

STATUTES
 The Indian Penal Code, 1860, Act No. 45 of 1860, 6th October, 1860, available at:
https://www.oecd.org/site/adboecdanti-corruptioninitiative/46814358.pdf [accessed 12
April 2021]
 The Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973. Act No. 2 of 1974. [25th January, 1974,
available at:
https://www.oecd.org/site/adboecdanti-corruptioninitiative/46814340.pdf [accessed 12
April 2021]
 UN General Assembly, International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, 16
December 1966, United Nations, Treaty Series, vol. 999, p. 171, available at:
https://www.refworld.org/docid/3ae6b3aa0.html [accessed 12 April 2021]
 UN General Assembly, Universal Declaration of Human Rights, 10 December
1948, 217 A (III), available at:

10
 https://www.refworld.org/docid/3ae6b3712c.html [accessed 12 April 2021]

 UN General Assembly, International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, 16

December 1966, United Nations, Treaty Series, vol. 993, p. 3, available at:
https://www.refworld.org/docid/3ae6b36c0.html [accessed 12 April 2021]

JOURNALS
 Abhyankar, Kalyani, Lynching: A Threat to Democracy (May 29, 2020). Available at
SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=3613780 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.3613780

WEBSITES

 https://www.thequint.com/quintlab/lynching-in-india/
 https://criminallawstudiesnluj.wordpress.com/2020/02/11/the-epidemic-of-mob-
lynching-in-india-analysing-tehseen-s-poonawalla-v-union-of-india/
 https://grojil.org/2020/03/04/call-for-red-letter-explicating-the-human-rights-in-the-
backdrop-of-mob-lynching-in-india/

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