New Delhi:The Supreme Court will hear a defense of progress and reforms by Indian Muslims on April 23, demanding lynching of victims of hate crimes and mobs across India. Justices Br Gavai and Augustine George Masih will examine whether states and union territories implement relief plans in accordance with the court’s 2018 Tehseen Poonawala judgment.
In April 2023, the Supreme Court directed the Center, all states and UTS to submit an affidavit detailing the steps taken to build a compensation plan for families of lynching victims. At the hearing, the petitioner’s lawyers believed that despite some states taking remedies, there was no consistency nationwide and many jurisdictions still lacked any formal plans.
The petition holds that the current temporary payments practice – determined by factors such as media reports, political considerations and the religious identity of the victims – constitutes articles 14, 15 and 21 of the Constitution. It requires a binding direction, requiring each state and UT to develop a unified framework to ensure “fair, fair, reasonable” compensation regardless of the victim’s background.
The request highlights what it calls “whimsical, discriminatory and arbitrary” approach, noting that even if comparable losses are suffered, victims of minority communities often receive significantly lower benefits than victims of other groups.
When the matter returns on April 23, the court is expected to review the affidavits filed by the Center and individual states and set a certain timeline for the implementation of the unified compensation policy.
