Lynching and hate crime murder in penal code: punishment 7 yrs to death

This is nested in Section 101 of the Bill that deals with the punishment of murder. Under this section, Section 2 has been introduced which deals with punishment for crimes linked to mob lynching and hate crime.

It states: “When a group of five or more persons acting in concert commits murder on the ground of race, caste or community, sex, place of birth, language, personal belief or any other ground each member of such group shall be punished with death or with imprisonment for life or imprisonment for a term which shall not be less than seven years, and shall also be liable to fine.”

This comes in the backdrop of the apex court expressing concerns and urging the need for dedicated legislation to address cases of lynching and vigilantism. “…We think it appropriate to recommend to the legislature, that is, the Parliament, to create a separate offence for lynching and provide adequate punishment for the same. We have said so as a special law in this field would instill a sense of fear for law amongst the people who involve themselves in such kinds of activities. There can be no trace of doubt that fear of law and veneration for the command of law constitute the foundation of a civilized society,” the Supreme Court had observed in August 2018 .

Significantly, if the Bill becomes law, it would be the first time, there could be official documentation of incidents related to lynching and hate crimes, reported through the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB). Up until now, due to the lack of dedicated provisions, the government had communicated to Parliament in March last previous year that NCRB does not maintain separate data for mob lynching.

However, this isn’t the first instance of a proposed law related to lynching. Months after forming the government in December 2018, the Rajasthan Assembly had passed The Rajasthan Protection from Lynching Bill, in August 2019.

The Bill made mob lynching a cognisable, non-bailable, and non-compoundable offence punishable with up to life imprisonment and a fine up to Rs 5 lakh. It defines lynching as “any act or series of acts of violence or aiding, abetting or attempting an act of violence, whether spontaneous or planned, by a mob on the grounds of religion, race, caste, sex, place of birth, language, dietary practices, sexual orientation, political affiliation, ethnicity”. However, the Bill is yet to become an Act as it was returned by the Central government with some queries.

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