The Supreme Court has asked the Attorney General to take up with the Centre the possibility of creating a special provision in criminal law to address violence based on race, place of birth or language.
The direction came during a hearing on a petition filed by advocate Anoop Prakash Awasth. He moved the court after the murder of Angel Chakma in Uttarakhand last December. Chakma, a resident of Tripura, was allegedly subjected to racial slurs before being fatally attacked.
Awasth urged the court to frame guidelines similar to the Vishaka guidelines, which later led to the law on prevention of sexual harassment at the workplace. He sought a grievance redressal system to address identity-based discrimination, including attacks on people from the northeastern region. He also called for nodal agencies in all states to handle such complaints.
The bench headed by CJI Surya Kant, along with Justices JoymalyaBagchi and Vipul Pancholi, noted that the plea raised vital questions about creating a robust mechanism to deal with group-based violence. At the same time, the Chief Justice expressed concern that separate mechanisms based on identity might deepen regional divisions.
The court declined to frame specific provisions itself and said the matter should be placed before the competent authority through the Attorney General. The petitioner stressed that educational institutions need clear systems to prevent racially motivated attacks.