Sir — This refers to the editorial, “Anti-lynching law” (July 19). On a batch of petitions, seeking a crack-down against lynching in the name of cow protection, the Supreme Court has reminded not just the Government, but also the nation that there cannot be any investigation, trial or administering of punishment on the street.
The Court has rightly asked the Parliament to enact a new law to sternly deal with mob lynching and cow vigilantism, warning that such incidents may become a ‘typhon-like monster’. It has been often argued that lynchings are a result of the present Government’s attempts to instill a set of values, replacing those that had prevailed since Independence or even before that. Even this veneer of justification does not hide the ugliness where men are beaten to death by enraged mobs on mere suspicion of indulging in an act that went against their beliefs.
It also does not camouflage the ugly truth that each of these actions are illegal and the law on its part has been slow to apprehend the culprits.