Ranchi (Jharkhand): State unit of Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP) on Friday welcomed the decision of Jharkhand Governor Ramesh Bais to return the Bill against mob lynching saying that this was done as it was illegal. Jharkhand Governor Ramesh Bais on Thursday returned the draft of the ‘Prevention of Mob Violence and Mob Lynching Bill, 2021’ passed by the state assembly in December last year to the State government with suggestions.
Bais has asked the State government to reconsider the definition of a mob as it is “not in consonance with the well-defined legal definition." Speaking to ETV Bharat, BJP MLA Naveen Jaiswal said that even when this Bill was brought in the Jharkhand Assembly, the BJP had opposed it adding that several inappropriate provisions have been made in the Bill. Furthermore, taking a jibe at the State government Jaiswal questioned, " Two or three people together will be called mob according to the Bill. What if two people fight, will it also be called mob lynching."
BJP state unit chief also criticised the Bill and said, “It is very unfortunate that the Jharkhand government, which had passed a Bill against mob lynching in the Legislative Assembly and sent it to the Governor, was not legal. There was also a violation of CrPC and IPC in the Bill.” He further said that the Bill “will disrupt social harmony” in the state.
“Under this Bill when two persons were involved in crime then it will be called a mob lynching. If a businessman writes something, then that, too, will be mob lynching. In such a situation, how can the Jharkhand government justify it?” Deepak Prakash, BJP MP, asked.
READ: Hazaribagh lynching case: BJP's Kapil Mishra detained at Ranchi airport, sent back to Delhi
“It was politics of appeasement and was not legal. The BJP is constantly opposing it,” he said. The BJP MP said that there should have been a “lawful” discussion in the Assembly on the Bill. “But the State government did not do so. They did not do the work of bringing a lawful Bill and only did this for politics of appeasement,” Prakash said.
Meanwhile, JMM leader Manoj Pandey said that the question being raised on defining the crowd is absurd and BJP has political motives behind it. He said that he is hopeful that the Hemant Soren government will be successful in enacting a law soon with the consent of the Governor after the Bill is passed by the Assembly.
The anti-mob lynching Bill passed by voice vote in the state Assembly on December 21, 2021, had been sent to the Governor for his assent. The legislation envisages imprisonment for those who are found to be involved in mob violence and mob lynching for periods ranging from three years to a life term, besides imposition of fines and attachment of properties for those found guilty of violence.
ANI inputs
