New Delhi: The Supreme Court today gave its verdict on pleas seeking directions to formulate guidelines to curb vigilantism and said no citizen can take law into their own hands. In case of fear and anarchy, the state has to act positively.

A bench of Chief Justice Dipak Misra, Justice A.M. Khanwilkar and Justice D.Y. Chandrachud, previously while reserving their order, had reminded the Central and state governments of their responsibility to curb violence by vigilante groups.

The court had earlier said that violence by any vigilante group had to be curbed after its attention was drawn to the violence in Maharashtra in which five people were killed in mob violence in the wake of social media posts on alleged child lifters.

Article 256 of the Constitution, which spells the obligation of States and the Union, provides that the Centre could give necessary directions to the States in a given situation, but the Centre had said it could issue advisories to the states as law and order was a state subject.

HERE IS WHAT THE APEX COURT SAID:



    • The Court will review the situation on August 20.

    • SC asks Parliament to make a law to deal with the offence of mob lynching to punish such offenders.

    • It the responsibility of the state to protect the peace and pluralistic society says SC.

    • Supreme Court says, "no citizen can take law into their own hands. In case of fear and anarchy, the state has to act positively. Violence can't be allowed."

    • Mobocracy cannot be allowed.

    • The hearing begins at Supreme court.






Tehseen Poonawalla, petitioner in violence by vigilante groups matter said to ANI that the Supreme Court has said that it is the duty of the states to ensure inclusive social order, no mobocracy can be allowed.


The court's order came on a batch of petitions including one by social activist Tehseen S. Poonawalla and Tushar Gandhi, great grandson of Mahatma Gandhi, seeking to curb violence by cow vigilante groups. The apex court order was not just relating to cow vigilantes but was also on all violence by vigilante groups.

A lot of incidents of mob-lynching are being reported these days. Amid a spate of lynchings purportedly triggered by messages on Whatsapp, the government had categorically told the WhatsApp that it cannot evade its accountability on the issue.