Countering Centre, CJI Dipak Misra says mob lynching incidents surged in recent times

Countering Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh’s claim that incidents of mob lynching were not new, Chief Justice Dipak Misra on Tuesday said that there was indeed a recent surge in such incidents of violence.

“There is a recent surge in mob lynching, please don't misunderstand me because I have authored the judgement, there is a recent surge in mob lynching based on the viral text on the social media and this leads to mobocracy and loss of life, in certain cases,” ANI quoted CJI Misra as saying.

Earlier during the no-confidence motion debate in Parliament, Singh had said that incidents of mob lynching were not new in the country and anti-Sikh riots in 1984 were the biggest lynching incident.

Also Read | Government to enact law, if necessary, to curb lynchings, says Rajnath Singh 

The Chief Justice, who asked Parliament to look into possibilities of a new law on mob lynching, said that citizens themselves have to check on their blatant reliance on social media to ensure peace and law and order in the society.

“The blatant reliance on social media needs to be checked by the citizens themselves; to ensure peace and order in the society,” Misra added.

The remarks of the Chief Justice came after the recent incident of mob lynching in Rajasthan’s Alwar district, where a Muslim man was allegedly beaten to death by a group of villagers on suspicion of cow smuggling.

Also Read | Politics behind Lynching: How mob fury deflects attention from bigger public issues to suit ruling classes