Legislators, keep the law from vigilantes

The new government is keen to show that it means business. And business also means reading the riot act to law-breakers with a perverted notion of virtue-signalling. Last week, three persons were viciously attacked by a lynch mob near Arang in Chhattisgarh, two succumbing to injuries, a third still in hospital with critical injuries. The attackers apparently had taken their victims, who were transporting cattle in their truck, for ‘cow smugglers’. An FIR has been lodged, and a 14-member special team has been formed to probe the case. The proof of the pudding will be the Vishnu Deo Sai-led BJP government conducting a thorough, impartial probe, and delivering swift justice.Governments – at the Centre and states – can’t tut-tut such crimes away as ‘fringe behaviour’. Vigilantism undermines the state’s ability – or willingness – to keep the law. Irresponsible utterings by legislators have not helped. These can be interpreted in some quarters as licence to ride roughshod over the law to ‘defend’ some notional transgression. That a central Cabinet member even ‘promised’ during campaigning last month that if returned to office, his party would ‘straighten’ offenders involved in cow smuggling by ‘hanging them upside down’ hasn’t helped.

India’s legal system has enough provisions for illegal cattle trafficking, manslaughter and disturbance of peace. In the 2018 ‘Tehseen S. Poonawalla vs Union of India & Others’ case, the Supreme Court issued guidelines to prevent lynchings and mob violence. The three new criminal code laws that come into effect on July 1 have a provision for death penalty for members of a lynch mob. So, if there’s a message that needs to be driven home to potential law-breaking vigilantes, members of new GoI needn’t be shy now.