Alwar lynching: SC notice to Rajasthan govt

Satya Prakash

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, August 20

The Supreme Court on Monday issued notice to the Rajasthan government in connection with lynching of a man in Alwar district a few days after it issued guidelines on dealing with vigilantism.

A three-judge Bench headed by Chief Justice of India Dipak Misra asked the state’s Principal Secretary of the Home to file an affidavit detailing the action taken in the case.

Rakbar Khan (28) was allegedly beaten to death by cow vigilantes in Alwar district’s Ramgarh area on July 20 when he was leading two cows from Ladpura village to his home to Haryana.

The Supreme Court had on July 23 agreed to hear petitions seeking initiation of contempt proceedings against Rajasthan government officials for violation of its guidelines and failure to save Khan from lynching.

The contempt petitions filed by Tushar Gandhi and Congress leader Tehseen Poonawala were mentioned before a Bench headed by Chief Justice of India Dipak Misra which said the matter would be taken up on August 28 along with the main case.

Alleging that mob lynching and vigilantism incidents were happening despite the court’s directions to curb such violence, the petitioners demanded contempt action against the Rajasthan government.

The petitioners said the court’s verdict has to be implemented in letter and spirit.

The top court had on July 17 asked the Parliament to consider enacting a new law to effectively deal with incidents of mob lynching, saying “horrendous acts of mobocracy” cannot be allowed to become a new norm.