The Supreme Court on Monday refused to entertain a plea filed by Jamiat Ulama-i-Hind seeking directions to the Uttar Pradesh government to provide compensation to victims of mob lynching, upholding the Allahabad High Court’s decision that such matters should first be raised before the state authorities.
A bench comprising Justices J.K. Maheshwari and Vijay Bishnoi dismissed the plea, declining to interfere with the high court’s July 15 order that had asked the petitioner to approach the state government in individual cases rather than seeking blanket relief through a public interest litigation.
The Jamiat’s petition had sought wide-ranging directions to ensure effective implementation of the Supreme Court’s 2018 guidelines in Tehseen S. Poonawalla v. Union of India, which laid down preventive, remedial, and punitive measures to curb mob violence and lynching. The plea alleged that the Uttar Pradesh government had failed to implement these safeguards, leaving victims and their families without compensation or justice.
However, while disposing of the PIL, the Allahabad High Court had clarified that each incident of mob violence constitutes a distinct offence requiring case-specific remedies. The court observed that it could not oversee or monitor all such incidents under a single public interest petition. It had nonetheless granted liberty to affected individuals to approach the appropriate authorities or courts for enforcement of the Tehseen Poonawalla guidelines.
By refusing to intervene, the apex court has effectively endorsed the high court’s view that compensation and redress in mob lynching cases must be pursued through individual legal and administrative channels, rather than through broad judicial directives.
