ABSTRACT
Where mob lynching in India is concerned, post the launch of Bhartiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) in 2024 to replace IPC we can look at these sections. An implication of mob lynching is the process of a phase regarding those tales judgment side not always educated, societal informed, and possessive relating to less literacy requires intention at their turn.
It says the relevant provisions included are Section 103(2) of BNS, which provides a death sentence or life imprisonment with a minimum of seven years for murder by a group of five persons on the ground including race, caste, and sex among other things, and Section117(4) which talks about mob causing grievous hurt. This report will compare these provisions to state-level laws that have preceded this, such as the Manipur Protection from Mob Violence Act of 2018 and The Rajasthan Protection from Lynching Bill combined with its draft rules.
INTRODUCTION
Diamond is the most expensive element in the world but the life of a person is more precious and invaluable in the world. Mob means group of people and lynching word is derived from the name of Charles Lynch who punished the offender without the due trial. In an era where dozens of laws and Acts apply to different crimes in almost every country this crime rate hasn’t decreased instead, it has increased daily. Mob Lynching is a punishable offense in some countries whereas in some countries it is not. In layman's language, mob lynching means the act of a group of people who brutally kill the suspected person who is deemed to be cow vigilantism and caste & religion-based vengeance. Mostly this type of lynching takes place due to a lack of literacy and education of social knowledge, it mostly occurs in rural areas where the beliefs of the people are preferable more than their laws. They took laws into their hands not only to punish but to torture the victim and then kill it. Well, the rights of the victim were also infringed under Articles 14, 19, and 21 of the Constitution of India and the people who do lynching are also liable for their acts against the Constitution of India.
The term Mob Lynching was not included in any separate section in the Indian Penal Code nor it was defined separately which acts are included in mob lynching in the Bhartiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS)- replaced the Indian Penal Code on 1st July 2024. Union Home Minister Amit Shah said in the parliament at the time of Introducing the Bhartiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) Bill, 2023: “There has been a lot of talk about mob lynching. We have carefully ensured that the punishment for mob lynching is seven years, imprisonment for life, or even death. All three provisions are there in cases of mob lynching.”There have been so many cases in the last decade where the victims were brutally killed by the mob on the presumption or suspicion as well as on misunderstanding.
Keywords (Minimum 5): mob lynching, section 103(2), Bhartiya Nyaya Sanhita, extra judicial punishment, hate crime, section 302
SUB-HEADINGS
Meaning & Definition
Mob Lynching is a grievous act done by a group of people i.e. mob. They kill the victims by taking the law into their hands believing that they performed something wrong. The violence is against the human body on the belief or sometimes suspicion of doing any wrongful act. Earlier the punishment for the mob lynching for the killing of the victim was given under the section 302 of the Indian Penal Code while after the implication of the new Act i.e. Bhartiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023 on the 1st day of July, 2024 the punishment for the murder by the mob was given under the separate section 103(2) of the BNS, “when a group of five or more person 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 a 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”. The interpretation of the section 103(2) of BNS,2023 is; When the group of five or more person commits murder of anybody on the basis or grounds of race, caste or community, sex, place of birth, language, personal belief or any other ground will 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. Section 103(2) of BNS will only be applicable if the victim died by five or more persons. In another case, if the group of people is fighting against the other group of people then the consequences of murder arising from that fighting will not considered as mob lynching.
Sub-clause 4 of Section 117 (voluntarily causing grievous hurt) provides, “when grievous hurt of a person is caused by a group of five or more persons on the ground of his, race, caste, sex, place of birth, language, personal belief or any other ground, each member of such group shall be guilty of the offence of causing grievous hurt, and shall be punished with imprisonment of either description for a term which may extend to seven years, and shall also be liable to fine”. If the group of five or more person caused the grievous hurt then the Section 117(4) of BNS comes into play. It is pertinent to note that the punishment for murder is death or imprisonment for life, and shall also be liable to fine as per section 103(1) of BNS. In comparison, the punishment of murder by the mob is given u/s 103(2) which is the same.
The question arises that if the murder is done by the mob then all the people involved in it will be punished with death or imprisonment of life and a fine.
It is the question of law and it depends on the charge sheet. It is pertinent to note that in a country like India, some people also come in the charge sheet of police who were at the time of lynching present there, and due to the misinformation the innocent also become the prey of the murder in the charge sheet.
Mob Lynching a distinct offence
Earlier mob lynching was not recognized as a distinct offense in Indian Penal Code whereas now it is recognized as a distinct offense under Bhartiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023. As per BNS, the punishment for mob lynching was mentioned under sections 103(2) and 117(4). Before going ahead it is important to know that if there is not an assembly of five or more person in doing the common act then it is not considered mob lynching, whereas in the Bhartiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023 special provisions are there for unlawful assembly which is mentioned under the section 189(1). The mob lynching is a hateful act against the Muslim cattle trader, intercaste marriage. Sometimes it spreads due to rumors from social media, and political statements between the people. Mostly it is against the backward class of people, theft, robbery, and murder of minors. Therefore to prevent all this and to protect the right of the innocent or victim the distinct provisions in Bhartiya Nyaya Sanhita was included.
Comparision with other provisions
The victims in the mob lynching were not allowed to give their defense to the mob as the mob at that time was mostly doing hateful acts in the heat of anger. Sometimes in that situation, the lives of innocent people also come into danger. Therefore mob lynching is considered a hate crime in all the states of the country. To prevent all this there are other distinct provisions or acts in some states. Manipur in the year 2018 implemented its separate Act which is Manipur Protection from Mob Violence Act, 2018 against the crime of mob lynching. The punishment for the convict of mob lynching is life imprisonment. It includes the establishment of special courts for speedy trials, the role of police in the prevention of incidents, and also compensation schemes for the families of the victims. Similarly, Rajasthan implemented - the Rajasthan Protection from Lynching Act, of 2019. Which includes life imprisonment or up to 7 years imprisonment if the hostile environment is created for lynching for the convict. Appointment of a nodal officer and the establishment of a special task force for the district level. The special provisions are there for the protection of witnesses and compensation to the families of the victims. West Bengal implemented the Act in the year 2019- West Bengal (Prevention of Lynching) Act, 2019. It includes the punishment or imprisonment of life or additional penalties for those who create a lynching environment. In this state nodal officer is appointed to monitor and to prevent mob violence. It also includes the compulsory compensation to the families of the victims. Whereas in BNS there is the prescribed punishment for not only life imprisonment but also liable for death penalty. In the above separate Acts of Lynching not in the single Act there is the provisions for the death penalty for this type of hate crime. Therefore the implementation of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita plays a game changer role in the prevention of the hatred crime in the country due to its high degree of punishment.
Case Laws
The recent case was about the Palghar incident in Maharashtra. In this case, the mob at large attacked two sadhus and their driver at Palghar at night on 16th April 2020. The mob lynching was done due to the spreading of humor and fake messages around WhatsApp between the villagers due to which they were influenced and believed Sadhus the child lifters they assaulted the two Sadhus.
This shows how people are influenced by fake messages on WhatsApp and take the law into their own hands just for the sake of punishing the accused. But they don’t know the full facts of the situation or the person to whom they were going to assault and kill the innocent one. Therefore the special or distinct section in BNS for the punishment for those mobs is the key change in the history of India.
The discussion of mob lynching without the case law of Tehseen Poonawalla v Union of India and Ors. (2018) is like reading a topic without meaning. The Poonawalla case was a landmark case in the field of mob lynching. In this case, the Supreme Court of India issued guidelines for preventive, punitive, and remedial measures. The court held that there must be appointment of a nodal officer in each district which must be not below the rank of Superintendent of Police. If it is likely to be the situation that such type of incident will happen then a special task force should be appointed to that area.
Violence Patterns and Legal Recourse
Mob lynching has become a serious concern in Indian society, several instances have been reported from different parts of the country. It is vulnerable individuals and marginalized communities that are often the targets of such acts of collective violence, which reflect several structural prejudices and power dynamics inside our social fabric. Consequently, one of the more pervasive themes is targeting those who are suspected to be engaging in witchcraft or exorcism. In these cases, the top will be prosecuted for their crime while those below him are often let go because our legal systems find it difficult to hold accountable people who did not unquestionably do a single particular act of murder. This escape brings the mob mentality, and it takes away a little of what otherwise would be their full responsibility for these outrages.
Likewise, there have been events of mob violence that arose from allegations of child abuse. Even in cases where the guilt is not fixed but still, in that hurry to save that victim can ultimately result in the killing of the accused. That these situations exist demonstrates the need for laws that give greater credence to lawful intervention and not a legal justification of totalling working people's rides as part of some grand protest plan.
Property rights disputes, too, have been a trigger for mob lynching. And instead of going to enforce contracts and the rule, an aggrieved property owner would just go bundle a few mates off down there and bash up some tenants that had refused to move out and end in death. These incidents show how confidence in the formal justice system is fading fast.
Mob lynching is not new to the state machinery either. Outraged by government policy or proposed legislation, demonstrations have turned to violent clashes sometimes with resulting killings of cops. Protest is a fundamental right, dissent a celebrated value and the law must remind us that such demonstrations cannot slide into mob violence disadvantaging public servants.
Some of the most powerful analogies come from as unnatural place as one can imagine, where disparate situations save for an ejected sense of societal dehumanization and pointed rage aimed at suitable ‘others’ within the majority culture disturbance. Since the BJP came to power, there has been an upsurge in cow vigilantism leading to mobs killing people whom they suspect of being cattle smugglers or slaughterers. This is happening especially along border regions and minority communities are bearing its brunt.
On top of this, there have been efforts to intimidate the reporting on mob lynching incidents from being widespread. They have and increasingly do so under the threat of prosecution, continuing to obstruct accountability in an already flawed justice system.
Mob lynchings are a complex and multilayered phenomenon requiring a broader legal solution instead of the limited provisions in IPC. But as long as as this vicious cycle continues, we need both a law and strong implementation to eliminate human trafficking otherwise, the rule of law will continue its downfall.
CONCLUSION & COMMENTS
The inclusion of distinct punishment or provisions for the mob lynching in the Bhartiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023 was a great step taken towards the prevention of not only such type of crimes but also it affect in the mind of the people not to take any such steps to punish the accused or not to come into the influence of any such social media post and whatsapp messages. Well, it is to be noted that after the implication of the BNS, we can see a decrease in the number of crimes in the country.
REFERENCES
Online Articles / Sources Referred
Cases Referred
Palghar Mob Lynching case (2020)
Tehseen S. Poonawalla vs Union Of India (AIR 2018 SC 3354)
Statutes Referred
Bhartiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023
Costitution of India, 1950
Manipur Protection from Mob Violence Act, 2018
Rajasthan Protection from Lynching Act, 2019
West Bengal (Prevention of Lynching) Act, 2019
Intern at Nyaya Nishtha