Centre says it issues advisories to states, UTs to check mob lynching on SC directions

Central government on Tuesday informed Lok Sabha on that it has issued advisories to state and UTs to take measures to curb incidents of mob lynching in the country.

In reply to CPI MPs K Subbarayan and M Selvaraj's questions, the Ministry of Home Affairs told the House that it has sensitized people through audiovisual media to check false news and rumours that could incite mob violence on the Supreme Court's directions.

The Supreme Court, in July 2018, passed a slew of directions for the Centre and states to curb incident of mob lynching in the country. The court had also recommended that Parliament enacts a separate law to check and punish the perpetrators of such crimes.

"In pursuance to the Hon'ble Supreme Court's Judgment dated 17.07.2018, advisories dated 23.07.2018 and 25.09.2018 were issued to the State Governments and Union Territory Administrations for taking measures to curb incidents of mob lynching in the country. The Government through audio-visual media has also generated public awareness to curb the menace of mob lynching," the answer read.

It further said, "The government has also sensitized the service providers to take steps to check the propagation of false news and rumours having potential to incite the mobviolence and lynching."

The government also informed Lok Sabha that Rajasthan and Manipur have passed bills to check the crime that are "reserved by the Governor for consideration of the President".

Several people have been killed in different incidents of mob lynching in many states over the years.