2018 Alwar lynching: Court says such incidents attack soul of Constitution

Additional District and Sessions Judge Sunil Kumar Goyal had on Thursday sentenced four men to seven years’ imprisonment and acquitted local VHP leader Naval Kishore in the case.

“Under the guise of religion, the accused took the law into their own hands and tried to take action against cow smugglers. No religion permits spreading of religious violence or hatred … Such illegal activities in a secular nation like India severely harm (or hurt) the soul of the Indian Constitution. If a soft approach is adopted in such cases which have a widespread effect on the society, then there is a strong possibility that it might send a negative message in society,” the judge said in his order. The order also said that “even if the cows were being taken for slaughter, the accused had no right to take law into their own hands and assault someone”.

However, the court’s statement contrasts with the statements of both the special public prosecutors (SPP) in the case, Ashok Sharma and Nasir Ali Naqvi, who said that the quantum of punishment was insufficient considering the severity of the crime and that they would recommend an appeal.

While four were convicted under IPC 304 (punishment for culpable homicide not amounting to murder) and 341 (wrongful restraint), Naqvi said that they should have been convicted under 302 (murder) too. Citing the judgment delivered by then Chief Justice of India Dipak Misra in the Tehseen S Poonawalla vs Union of India case on mob lynching, Naqvi said that even under IPC 304, the convicts should have been awarded the maximum punishment of life imprisonment.

The court order said that “had the accused had a definite intention of murder, they could have murdered Rakbar alias Akbar on the spot itself … but the accused helped take him (Rakbar) from the spot of incident to the police jeep, wash the mud from his body, change clothes, and even helped in taking him from the police station to the hospital which indicates that their intention was not to murder Rakbar.” Additionally, they wouldn’t have asked Naval Kishore to inform the police, the order said.

The court order also stated that the accused did not know Rakbar beforehand, had no enmity with him, and that they merely employed “ordinary weapons such as a stick. Being associated with the Gau Raksha Dal, they got over excited and took the law in their own hands to prevent cow slaughter and assaulted Rakbar”.

Rakbar, 31, was transporting cows on foot along with Aslam Khan, 32, when they were stopped by a mob at Lalwandi, under the Ramgarh police station, in Alwar, on suspicion of cattle smuggling. While Rakbar was severely assaulted and succumbed to his injuries a few hours later, Aslam managed to escape. They were headed for their village Kolgaon in Haryana, around a dozen kilometres from Lalwandi.

Rather than taking Rakbar directly to a hospital, the police spent around 20-25 minutes searching for Aslam, then took Rakbar to the police station – they also stopped for tea on the way to the station – and then went to drop off the cows at a gaushala.

The court, in its order, came down heavily on ASI Mohan Singh, saying that he “completely failed in carrying out his duty, and acted in an irresponsible and negligent manner. Hence it is important that departmental action is taken against him”. However, the court added that it could not be said that Rakbar’s life would certainly have been saved if he had been taken to hospital immediately. “But it was necessary for Mohan Singh to try and save Rakbar’s life and get him treated,” the order said.

After the incident, the police received a call regarding it from Naval Kishore at 12.41 am. They reached the spot at 1.30 am, but by the time Rakbar was taken to hospital, it was 3.55 am. The delay occurred despite there having been a health centre just four kilometres from the site of the incident.

On Naval Kishore, who was acquitted by the court, the order said that although Aslam has identified Naval Kishore, his statements were “unreliable”. It said that as soon as the assault began, “Aslam fled from the spot. It was night-time, dark and raining”. Moreover, the court said that Kishore was initially made a witness by the police under CrCP 161, and so there’s a possibility that Aslam may have seen him before the identity parade.

“Moreover, no one said that Naval Kishore’s clothes were muddy, even though the spot was muddy and it was raining, and had he assaulted, then his clothes too would have been muddy,” the order said.

The counsel for the accused had also pushed the theory that Rakbar was assaulted in police custody and died due to that, but the court said there was no evidence pointing to this.