States asked to appoint nodal officers in dists to prevent canards; Rajasthan Govt orders judicial probe in Rakbar Khan case
A day after the Centre set up a Group of Ministers (GoM) and a Home Secretary-headed committee to suggest ways and a legal framework to effectively deal with incidents of mob violence, Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh on Tuesday told Parliament that the Government would enact a law, if necessary, to curb such heinous incidents. The Government also issued an advisory to States asking them to appoint district-wise nodal officers and task forces to monitor and curb the rumour mongering that ensues in lynching.
Meanwhile, Rajasthan Home Minister Gulab Chand Kataria on Tuesday announced a judicial probe into the Rakbar Khan case, but not before maintaining that evidence suggested it to be a case of custodial death. Kataria said the State Government has also ordered an initial compensation of Rs 1.25 lakh for the family of the deceased. “We have written to the additional chief judicial magistrate to initiate a probe,” Kataria told reporters at a Press conference.
Chief Justice of India Dipak Misra attributed the “recent surge” in lynching to “blatant reliance on social media”. “The blatant reliance on social media needs to be checked by citizens themselves to ensure peace and order in the society,” the CJI said at an event in Delhi.
The Opposition, including the Congress, the Trinamool Congress and the left parties, raised a din over the spate of mob violence and Congress leader Mallikarjun Kharge demanded that a sitting Supreme Court judge should carry out an enquiry into such incidents and action should be taken on the report.
The issue was also raised in the Rajya Sabha. During the Zero Hour mention, Shanta Chhetri of the TMC cited media reports to say, “88 precious lives have been lost (in lynching incidents) since this Government came to power.” She wanted to know the steps initiated to check such attacks and the Government action on framing the anti-lynching law.
The Home Ministry advisory sent to Chief Secretaries and DGPs of the States and UTs said, “Incidents of violence and lynching by mobs in some parts of the country fuelled by various kinds of rumours and unverified news such as child lifting, theft, cattle smuggling, etc, are a matter of serious concern. Such instances of persons taking the law in their own hands run against the basic tenets of the rule of law. All State Governments, UT administrations and their law enforcement agencies are requested to implement the directions of the Supreme Court in letter and spirit. A detailed report on the action taken in the matter may please be sent to the Ministry at the earliest.”