Anti-mob lynching bill yet to be implemented
Source: Chronicle News Service

Imphal, April 30 2022: The Manipur Protection from Mob Violence Bill 2018, which was passed by the state assembly in 2018, is yet to be implemented after the Centre returned the Bill to the state government seeking certain clarifications.

Bills passed against mob lynching in the past four years by at least three states ruled by BJP rivals and one governed by the party itself have not been implemented with the Union government taking a view that lynching is not defined as a crime under the Indian Penal Code (IPC) .

The Ministry of Home Affairs had earlier said that there was "no separate" definition for lynching under the IPC, adding that lynching incidents could be dealt with under Sections 300 and 302 of the IPC, pertaining to murder.

In 2018, the Manipur Assembly passed The Manipur Protection from Mob Violence Bill, recommending life imprisonment for those involved in mob violence if it led to death.

Rajasthan and West Bengal also passed similar Bills and both the Bills are also pending implementation.

The Ministry examines the state legislations on three grounds - repugnancy with Central laws, deviation from national or central policy and legal and constitutional validity.

After consultation with the nodal ministries and departments) the Manipur Protection from Mob Violence Bill 2018 was returned to the Government of Manipur while seeking certain clarifications on November 18, 2021 .

In 2017, the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) collected data on mob lynching, hate crimes and cow vigilantism but it was not published and discontinued as these crimes are not defined and the data were found to be unreliable.

In 2018, the Supreme Court asked the Parliament to make lynching a separate offence.

Union Home Minister Amit Shah had informed the Parliament that the government has decided to overhaul the IPC framed in 1860 and the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC) and mob-lynching would also be examined by the committee.

He also said that the suggestions received by the Committee for Reforms in Criminal Laws would be examined by the ministry before the changes are adopted.

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