Union minister Rajnath Singh addressing the Lok Sabha on Tuesday. (PTI photo)

NEW DELHI: The Centre will, if necessary, enact a law to curb and deal with incidents of mob violence and lynchings, home minister Rajnath Singh told Parliament on Tuesday while responding to concerns over the recent incident of cow vigilantism in which one person was killed in Alwar in Rajasthan.

The home minister's response coincides with a fresh advisory to states and police chiefs about specific measures to be taken to curb such incidents in the light of guidelines suggested by the Supreme Court in a recent ruling. The court has also recommended a separate law to deal with lynchings.

In its advisory, the Centre asked all states to appoint a superintendent of police-level officer in each district, set up a special task force for gathering intelligence and monitor social media content, to check attacks caused by suspicion of childlifting or cattle-smuggling .

The home ministry also said failure to comply with directions to prevent, investigate and facilitate expeditious trial of such crimes will be considered an act of deliberate negligence and misconduct on the part of district police and administration officials, inviting strong action.

"Incidents of violence and lynching by mobs in some parts of the country fuelled by various kinds of rumours and unverified news such as child lifting, theft, cattle smuggling are a matter of serious concern. Such instances of persons taking the law in their own hands run against the basic tenets of the rule of law," the advisory says.

"The government has taken the issue seriously and would look at taking stringent action against the culprits," said Singh.

He was responding to an attack from the Opposition including Congress, Trinamool Congress and CPM in Lok Sabha over rising cases of lynching. In Rajya Sabha, Trinamool MP Shanta Chhetri raised the Alwar case and she demanded the government to enact a law to prevent killings by vigilantes. She cited media reports to claim that "88 precious lives" have been lost since the government assumed office.

Singh repeated his remark made during the discussion on no-confidence motion that the biggest lynchings happened in 1984 in the anti-Sikh riots - a remark that elicited strong protests from Congress members.

The Opposition created a din during the Zero Hour. Many of them, including from Congress, Trinamool Congress, TDP and RJD, even rushed to the Well of the House.

Congress leader Mallikarjun Kharge demanded that a sitting SC judge carry out an inquiry into the lynching incidents and take action based on the report. Trinamool Congress leader Sudip Bandopadhyay said mob lynchings were creating an alarming situation in different parts of the country. "The government should not keep mum... the government should take initiatives (to stop it)," he said.

Deputy Speaker and AIADMK leader M Thambidurai urged the Centre to come forward and stop such incidents. There is a need to study the root cause of such incidents and asserted that the first priority should be "law and order", he said.

