Mob lynching, as a very horrific kind of social crime, had always been beyond the express provisions of any of Indian criminal laws. Even though courts have in many cases fallen back upon the provisons on murder, rioting or unlawful assembly in the Indian Penal Code (IPC) to prosecute mob lynching, there was no law identifying mob lynching as a specific crime. The Colonial Indian Penal Code has been replaced by the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023 (BNS) which is a significant step in recognising and punishing such group violence in a direct manner.

Section 103(2) makes "Offence by group of persons, five or more" as a separate offence and makes punishable "murder by a group of persons on the ground of race, caste, community, sex, place of birth, language, etc."

This provision significant especially because:

● It defines mob lynching as a distinct form of murder.

● It is designed to address bias-motivated group violence.

● It carries same punishment as that of murder, which may be awarded death or life imprisonment.

The need for recognizing mob lynching as a separate offence was underscored by several high-profile incidents post-2015, often fueled by rumors or identity-based hate. The Supreme Court in Tehseen S. Poonawalla v. Union of India (2018) called mob lynching a "horrendous act of mobocracy" and urged Parliament to create a special law.

Although states like Manipur, Rajasthan, and West Bengal enacted anti-lynching laws, the IPC did not provide any central legal recognition. BNS, 2023 has filled that gap.

Salient Features of the BNS Provision on Mob Lynching

● Group Requirement: A minimum of five persons must be involved.

● Motivated by Prejudice: The crime must be on identifiable discriminatory grounds.

● Stringent Penalties: Provisions allow for capital punishment in rarest of rare cases.

1. Burden of Proof: Proving the commission of mob lynching based on prejudices such as caste or religion is a tough legal job.

2. Concerns of Misuse: Like any other stringent law, the mob lynching law is seen as being susceptible to various misuse for personal or political vendettas.

3. Overlap with Other Provisions: The courts must reconcile this with existing provisions on unlawful assembly, rioting, and general murder under the BNS.

Globally, hate crimes and lynching are treated with severity:

● In the USA, federal hate crime laws penalize acts motivated by race or ethnicity.

● In South Africa, group crimes rooted in xenophobia have prompted separate legal categories.

India’s BNS now places itself in this evolving global legal conscience.

Following the inclusion of mob-lynching in Section 103(2) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023, there can be no doubt that this is a significant step in a legislative response to a grievous social reality in India. Much will depend on the effective enforcement of the law and its interpretation by the judges, but the mere fact of passing this particular law has made an unambiguous statement: that the society recognizes the seriousness of group-based hate crimes and the treatment of such crimes as separate offences punishable by the law.

__________________________