The Delhi High Court today asked the Centre and city government to come up with a law to prevent hate crimes against migrants and issued a slew of directions like speedy disposal of such cases and deputing personnel from the Northeast in the police as part of efforts to ensure safety of people from others states.
A bench of Chief Justice N V Ramana and Justice Rajiv Sahai Endlaw, which had taken suo motu cognizance of media reports about the death of Arunchal youth Nido Tania, said the recent incidents are indicative of a disturbing trend of intolerance to movement of people within the country, which threatens the integrity of the country.
The bench directed Delhi police to ensure safety of people from northeast by deploying force in the localities, where such migrants stay, provide separate helpline number, operational within six weeks and to give it wide publicity.
In its 12-page direction, the bench also expressed concern over delay in filing of the post mortem reports and directed setting up of forensic laboratories in each of the district of Delhi.
It directed upgradation of existing CFSL Laboratories at the earliest.
The high court said that the courts should expeditiously deal with the cases of harassment of people from northeast and sought "outreach programmes for making people from northeastern states in Delhi aware of their legal rights and to render the requisite legal aid to them".
"No native of any state of India can be allowed to, by harassing, offending and by other criminal acts, prevent people from another state to settle and carry on any business or vocation therein.
"Today, when the boundaries between countries and restriction on movement internationally are disappearing, it is unfortunate that a small cross section of society is attempting to put up barriers to movement within the country. The Constitution of India does not provide for, India as a confederation of states, broken up into fragments by narrow domestic walls but as a Union of States," the bench said.
It said that the Centre and Delhi government should bring a legislation for preventing natives of one state from harassing in any manner the migrants.
"We are further of the view that the GNCTD as well as the Central government should give thought to the possibility of bringing a legislation for preventing the natives of one state from harassing in any manner the migrants from any other Indian states or from indulging in hate crimes against them, including by amendment to the Protection of Civil Rights Act, 1995 and Scheduled castes and the Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act), 1989," the bench said.
The High Court had issued direction after taking suo motu cognizance on February 3 of media reports about the death of 19-year-old Tania, son of an Arunachal Pradesh MLA, after he was allegedly beaten up by shopkeepers in Lajpat Nagar area in South Delhi.
