india

Updated: Jul 26, 2019 12:35 IST

The Supreme Court has asked the Centre and 10 states to explain what they have done to curb mob lynching on a petition that accused states of not implementing the top court’s11-point prescription to curb such violence.

The top court had last year outlined the steps that need to be taken to deal with an increase in reported cases of mob violence. One of the steps that it had advocated was enactment of a law to deal with the crime that threatens rule of law and the country’s social fabric.

On Friday, a bench led by Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi issued notice to the central government, National Human Rights Commission and 10 states including Uttar Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh, Delhi and Rajasthan on a follow-up petition filed in the top court.

The top court’s notice comes amid a letter vs letter that has broken out between two groups of celebrities. The first open letter signed by 49 intellectuals, artists and professionals was addressed to Prime Minister Narendra Modi. This one asked him to end the lynching of Muslims, Dalits and other minorities.

The government had quickly rejected the charge. Hours before the top court took up the mob violence petition, 62 celebrities responded to the first open letter hitting out at the first group for what was described as “selective outrage” and “false narratives”.

In its order last July, the steps indicated by the court also include steps to tackle hate speeches, provocative statements and fake news, usually the precursor to attacks by lynch mobs.

Among the steps listed by the top court were getting mob violence cases tried by designated fast track courts and completion of trial within six months.