Capital punishment for mob lynching under new Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita Bill

The Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) Bill introduced in the Lok Sabha on Friday to replace the colonial-era Indian Penal Code (IPC) has incorporated a specific provision for mob lynching and stipulated punishment ranging from seven years in jail to the death penalty for those convicted of the crime.

The Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) Bill introduced in the Lok Sabha on Friday to replace the colonial-era Indian Penal Code (IPC) has incorporated a specific provision for mob lynching and stipulated punishment ranging from seven years in jail to the death penalty for those convicted of the crime.

The bill was one of the three introduced by Union home minister Amit Shah on Friday to overhaul the criminal justice system. Shah asked Lok Sabha speaker Om Birla to refer the three bills to the parliamentary standing committee so that the proposed changes could be scrutinised.

“There has been a lot of talk about mob lynching. We have carefully ensured that the punishment for mob lynching will be seven years, imprisonment for life, or even death. All three provisions are there in cases of mob lynching,” the home minister said.

Clause 101(2) of the BNS Bill defines mob lynching as when a group of five or more persons acting in concert commits murder on the ground of race, caste or community, sex, place of birth, language, personal belief or any other ground each member of such group shall be punished with death or with imprisonment for life or imprisonment for a term which shall not be less than seven years, and shall also be liable to fine.