Jharkhand assembly passes anti-mob lynching bill on the penultimate day of winter session, culprits may be jailed for life

Third state after Bengal and Rajasthan to have an act dedicated against mob lynching 

Ranchi, Dec.21: The Jharkhand assembly today introduced and passed the ‘Prevention of Mob Violence and Mob Lynching Bill, 2021’ within an hour without accepting any major amendments suggested by the main opposition party BJP and ignoring the demand of other legislators for a discussion on it in the house.

The bill aims at providing effective protection of constitutional rights and prevention of mob violence. It includes provisions like registering an FIR for disseminating “explosive and irresponsible” content, providing free medical care to victims and punishment for creating a “hostile environment” for victims or witnesses. It also sets out a maximum punishment of life imprisonment and a fine of Rs 25 lakh for anyone found guilty of lynching or its abatement.

With this development, Jharkhand has become third Indian state – after West Bengal and Rajasthan – to have passed a dedicated anti-lynching bill.

On the other hand Congress MLA and  Parliamentary Affairs Minister Alamgir Alam justified the law saying it was being done in accordance with the directive of Supreme Court of the country.

Alam did not accept the suggestion of changing the definition of mob in the bill. They wanted ‘two or more’ as the definition of mob by a large unruly crowd besides others.

Before the bill was passed, assembly speaker Rabindranath Mahto suspended Hazaribagh MLA Manish Jaiswal till the end of winter session of the house for his act of tearing the assembly paper while talking about the scam and bungling in JPSC PT.

Though BJP legislator C.P.Singh, Amit Mandal and others took strong exception, the speaker justified his action in the interest of maintaining the dignity of the house and stop creation of wrong precedence for the house.

The bill was tabled in the House by the state Parliamentary Affairs Minister Alamgir Alam. He said its main objective is to provide “effective security” to the people, protect their constitutional rights and prevent mob violence.

The bill will now be sent to Jharkhand governor for his approval.

The Prevention of Mob Violence and Mob Lynching Bill, 2021, was tabled in Jharkhand Assembly and passed by voice vote on Tuesday to check such incidents in the state, infamous for vigilantism.

It also provides for financial compensation to the victim’s family and free medical treatment of victims of mob violence and mob lynching.

The bill will be now be sent to the governor for his assent to become law in accordance with the constitutional norms.

Tabling the Bill in the House, Alam said its main objective is to provide “effective security” to the people, protect their constitutional rights and prevent mob violence.

During the debate on the bill, the main opposition BJP introduced several amendments which were sidelined by the government by voice vote.

BJP leader C P Singh accused the state government of bringing the bill “in a hurry for the appeasement of minorities”.

There have also been incidents of mob lynching of those suspected to be practising witch craft in the tribal state.

Chief Minister Hemant Soren had denounced incidents of mob violence and promised to bring a legislation against it ahead of the 2019 state Assembly election.

Earlier this year, the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha-led government had decided to set up district-level committees to deal with cases of mob violence and mob lyching after being rebuked by the high court.