The Prevention of Lynching Bill, 2021 is likely to come up in the ensuing session of the Jharkhand Assembly from December 16 to 22, as per the source.
The Jharkhand Assembly is likely to introduce an anti-lynching bill in its upcoming session to solve mob assaults and lynchings rising in the tribal state. It proposes capital punishment for those lynching individuals, besides provisions for imprisonment for injuring a person and strict penalties for including in a lynch mob. Assemblies in states like West Bengal and Rajasthan have already passed anti-lynching legislation.
In an incident in Jharkhand, the twenty-four-year-old Tabrez Ansari was reportedly tied to a pole and thrashed with sticks by a mob at Dhatkidih village in Seraikela Kharsawan district in 2019 on suspicion of theft had its effect in Parliament too; to protect the constitutional rights of vulnerable persons, to prevent lynching, and to punish the acts of lynching in the state, the proposed bill provides punishment “with death sentence or rigorous imprisonment for life and with fine which shall not be less than ten lakh rupees” in case of death of the victim, as per the research done by Prittle Prattle official.
If the Act causes the victim harm, there are provisions for punishment, including imprisonment for a term of up to three years and a fine of not less than Rs one lakh and up to Rs three lakh.
In case the Act leads to the victim suffering grievous hurt, shall be punished with imprisonment for life, or with imprisonment of either description for a term which may extend to ten years, and with fine which shall not be less than three lakh rupees and may extend up to five lakh rupees, as per the provisions of the proposed bill. The proposed legislation provides for the appointment of a state coordinator not below the Inspector General of Police rank to be called the Nodal Officer to monitor and coordinate the prevention of lynching.
The Director-General of Police will appoint the nodal officer. The Nodal Officer, on legislation, will be required to hold regular meetings, at least once a month, with local intelligence units in the districts to identify tendencies of vigilantism, mob violence, or lynching in an area and take steps to prevent dissemination of offensive material through different social media platforms or any other means which could incite mob vigilantes.
The proposed bill states that every police officer in charge of maintaining law and order in an area shall take all reasonable steps to prevent any act of lynching, including incitement and commission, and will make all possible efforts to identify and prevent instances of dissemination of offensive material or any other means to incite or promote lynching.
District magistrates are required to take all reasonable steps to prevent the creation of a hostile environment against a person or group of people who have been targeted in such incidents. The proposed bill also states that any person who, despite knowing that another person is guilty of an offense under this Act, assists him with the intent to prevent, hinder, or interfere with his arrest, trial, or punishment shall be punished with imprisonment for a term of up to three years and shall also be liable to a fine of not less than one lakh rupees and not more than three lakh rupees.
In June 2019, Prime Minister Narendra Modi stated that the lynching incident in Jharkhand had pained him and that the guilty must be severely punished. He also noted that all forms of violence in the country should be treated equally and that the law should take its course.
This release is articulated by Prittle Prattle News in the form of an authored article.
