Supreme Court pulls up Rajasthan government over Alwar lynching, seeks report

The Supreme Court on Monday pulled up the Rajasthan government over latest incident of lynching in Alwar on July 24. The top court has sought a detailed affidavit from the Rajasthan government within a week on the steps taken by the state government to deal with incidents of lynching.

Senior advocate Indira Jaising, appearing for the petitioner, asked the court to summon the principal secretary of Rajasthan government and question him over why there was delay in following the apex court’s previous order on lynching.

The Supreme Court observed that though it had passed the order on preventing lynching incidents on July 17, a Muslim man named Rakbar Khan alias Akbar Khan was killed in a lynching incident on July 24. The next date of hearing in the case is August 30.

Earlier this month, the top court had sought a report from the Uttar Pradesh government over a lynching incident in Hapur. The court had asked the Uttar Pradesh Police to submit a detailed report on the entire incident.

The Supreme Court has also directed the Union government to formulate a law to prevent lynching incidents.

The latest case in the apex court concerns the lynching of a 28-year-old man in Alwar in Rajasthan. The man, Rakbar Khan, was beaten up mercilessly by an angry mob on suspicion of cattle smuggling.

A probe into the incident later revealed that the life of the victim could have been saved had the cops rushed him to a hospital on time. But the police officials first sent the cows in his possession to a shelter home and then took him to the hospital. As per reports, they even took a tea break while going the hospital.

Reacting to the incident, Rajasthan Home Minister Gulab Chand Kataria had said that it appeared to be a case of custodial death. He had conceded that the life of the victim could have been saved, had the police acted in a responsive way.