UP Govt Opposes Maintainability Of Jamiat Ulema-i-Hind's PIL In Allahabad HC For Enforcing SC Directives On Mob Lynching In State

The Uttar Pradesh Government has opposed the maintainability of a Criminal Public Interest Litigation (PIL) plea filed by Jamiat Ulema-i-Hind before the Allahabad High Court, which seeks compliance with the Supreme Court's guidelines laid down in Tehseen S. Poonawalla v. Union of India (2018), on preventing and addressing incidents of mob lynching and mob violence.On Thuesday, a bench of Justice Siddharth and Justice Avnish Saxena was informed by the Additional Advocate General that he wished to address this Court on the issue of maintainability of this PIL against the respondents. The matter will be heard on July 15. The petition, filed through Advocates Syed Ali Murtaza, Seemab Qayyum and Raza Abbas, highlights the alleged failure of the State Government in implementing the preventive, remedial, and punitive measures prescribed by the Supreme Court in its 2018 verdict. The PIL also refers to the specific incidents of mob lynching and mob violence in Uttar Pradesh, including a recent one [from May 2025] in Aligarh. The petition asserts that the State respondents have failed to act upon the Supreme Court's directions in Para 40(A) (Preventive Measures) and Para 40(C) (Punitive Measures) of the judgment. It contends that although the Supreme Court directed both the Union and State governments to ensure professional investigation, prevent mob violence and compensate victims, the UP Government has failed to take these steps. The petition details incidents resulting in four fatalities and 15 serious injuries due to mob attacks, reportedly linked to allegations of beef transport, non-vegetarian consumption, cow smuggling, and circulation of fake news. "…mob-violence has also characterized as mobocracy and one of the three 'bad forms' of rule that resulted from anarchy. It is submitted there has to be a checks by the state machinery on the aforementioned incidents. The rule of the crowd must not be permitted to prevail in India that values the quality of equality, fraternity and justice. It is often seen perpetrators of mob-lynching or mob-violence are not immediately brought to justice and in result it inspires others to take law into their own hand, supporting mobocracy or mob-rule," the plea states. The petition claims that the so-called vigilante groups, which act as self-styled law enforcers, have no legal authority and their actions challenge state authority and violate citizens' rights, particularly those belonging to minority communities. The plea also accuses the State government of not identifying the districts and subdivisions affected by such incidents over the last five years, nor compiling data on accused persons involved. It also claims that the UP Govt has not framed any victim compensation scheme as mandated by the Supreme Court under Section 357A CrPC, despite the lapse of the one-month timeline given by the Court in 2018. Lastly, the plea raises serious concerns regarding the lack of fairness and professionalism in the investigation of the Aligarh Mob Lynching Case. Furthermore, the plea prays for the constitution of an SIT to investigate the Aligarh Mob Lynching case. The plea also prays for the following direction to the state government: To file the notification and circular related to the appointment of nodal officers in each district dealing with mob lynching cases, along with a status report on such cases.Direct DGP to file a status report on criminal investigations of mob lynching incidents in the last five years.Specify notification regarding designation of special or fast-track courts for lynching/mob-violence cases and the current status of trials, in line with Para 40.17 of the SC judgment.To submit circulars and minutes of quarterly review meetings held over the past five years with nodal officers and police intelligence heads, as mandated by Para 40.5 of the judgment.To compel the State to submit its compensation scheme under Section 357A CrPC and details of the monetary compensation awarded to victims. Additionally, a direction is sought to award ₹15,00,000 as just compensation to victims of the 24.05.2025 Aligarh incident. Furthermore, it also prays for a direction to the Union Government to undertake a public awareness drive through print, digital, and electronic media to inform citizens about the consequences of mob lynching and legal penalties, as per Para 40A (viii) and (ix) of the SC judgment. It also seeks directions to the Union Government and NCRB to collect and publish year-wise data on lynching and mob violence cases to aid investigation and trial monitoring.

UP Govt Opposes Maintainability Of Jamiat Ulema-i-Hind's PIL In Allahabad HC For Enforcing SC Directives On Mob Lynching In State

Sparsh Upadhyay

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