SC accepts plea seeking equal compensation to mob lynching victims
SC accepts the plea seeking equal compensation to mob lynching victims; The petitioner said – compensation is given on the basis of religion
A petition was filed in the Supreme Court demanding equal compensation for all victims of hate crimes and mob lynchings. This petition was filed by 'Indian Muslim for Progress and Reforms' (IMPAR), which was accepted by the court on Friday. The hearing in this matter will be held after 8 weeks. Earlier, the Supreme Court sought a response from the Central, State and Union Territories governments on this petition.
It was said in the petition that the states adopt a discriminatory and arbitrary approach in the matter of giving compensation. A trend has been observed to give compensation to the families of the victims according to their religion. In many cases, higher compensation was given when the victims belonged to other religions. At the same time, the victims of the minority community were given very little compensation.
Last year on June 28, tailor Kanhaiya Lal Sahu was killed by two people over a social media post. He also made a video of the murder and posted it on social media.
Last year on June 28, tailor Kanhaiya Lal Sahu was killed by two people over a social media post. He also made a video of the murder and posted it on social media.
Giving example, he said that Kanhaiya Lal was murdered in Udaipur. It was considered a hate crime. In this case, the CM of Rajasthan met the family members of the victim and gave Rs 51 lakh. Along with this, the two sons of the victim were also given government jobs.
On the other hand, on February 17, the burnt bodies of two people belonging to the minority community were found in a car. In this case, the government had announced a compensation of only Rs 5 lakh. This is a violation of Articles 14 and 15.
Advocate Javed Shaikh, appearing for the petitioner, urged the Supreme Court to direct the states to frame a uniform compensation scheme. He said that some states have made plans according to the 2018 order of the Supreme Court, but there is no uniformity among them. At the same time, many states have not made any such plan yet.
A bench of Justices KM Joseph and BV Nagaratna asked the governments to file affidavits within 4 weeks detailing the steps they have taken to plan for providing relief to the families of mob lynching victims. The Supreme Court had directed to make such a plan in the Tehseen Poonawalla case of 2018.
