Conviction in Alimuddin lynching case was hailed by large sections of the society as well as the media. (Radiance, 1-7 April 2018). A fast track court of Jharkhand sentenced 11 convicts for various terms of jail including life term with fines on March 21, 2018. However, it is shocking that a single Judge bench of Ranchi High Court led by Justice HC Mishra granted bail to 8 convicts on June 29. The bail application was filed by senior advocate B M Tripathi. A year ago on the same date (29 June) a mob led by Bajrang Dal activists and the local cow vigilante intercepted Ansari’s vehicle in Ramgarh town. The vehicle was set afire and Ansari was beaten to death.
According to Advocate Tripathi, “Bail has been granted to all eight accused for whom he had filed the petition. This entails suspension of sentence during pendency of appeal.” Those granted bail include Nityanand Mahato (then head of district BJP media cell), Santosh Singh (Bajrang Dal), and their associates in crime Rohit Thakur, Kapil Thakur, Uttam Ram, Raju Kumar Mahato, Vicky Sao and Sikander Ram.
In this case the Police did a commendable job in completing investigation quickly and collecting evidences. The charge sheet was filed within three months. The trial got completed by the fast track court of Justice Om Prakash, in less than six months. The conviction could be possible because police investigation had made a clear case that lynching was not a spur-of-the-moment assault but a well-planned move. The attackers had followed the victim for over two hours before they got hold on him. In such a case, granting bail within three months of the sentence sends wrong signals to the rogue elements that use to take law into their own hands and kill people without fear of being punished. In general the attitude of police and administration had emboldened the mob lynching which is being used to create a violent attitude among the people for political reasons.
It started with the acquittal of Bajrang Dal activists Dara Singh in killings of Graham Stuart Staines (January 1999) along with his two sons Philip (10) and Timothy (6). They were burnt to death while sleeping in their station wagon in Odisha. More than 30 people have been killed in such cases during last few years, but in none the accused got due punishment for killing innocent persons. Recent incidents of UP, Tripura and other states show that this violent trend is fast spreading. Only courts are the last resort to save the country from such lawlessness. Soft attitude of courts, as was also seen recently in a Gujarat pogrom case and in a judicial report justifying killing of eight persons in Bhopal, is alarming for the rule of law. In Kathua, support of rapists by Bar Council members is also a manifestation of the same biased attitude. We hope that civil society will raise its voice in such matters and assert the rule of law.