A Bench of Justices DY Chandrachud and Hima Kohli ordered Bihar, Haryana, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Odisha, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, and Uttar Pradesh to furnish information about the registration of first information reports (FIRs), status of the investigation, arrests made, and chargesheets filed in such crimes, within two months.
The information has to be submitted to the Union Home Ministry, which will then collate the same and file a report before the top court.
“In order to apprise the Court as to the manner in which the directions issued in Tehseen Poonawala vs Union of India have been implemented in different States, we issue the following directions: The Union Home Ministry shall obtain verification reports from the following States on the steps which have been taken in respect to incidents of alleged violence reported and forming the subject matter of the present petition,” the Court said.
The Court, however, made it clear that it was not expressing any opinion on the veracity of the allegations raised by the petitioner.
The Court was hearing a plea filed by Reverend Peter Machado and others seeking implementation of the guidelines issued by the Supreme Court in its 2018 Tehseen Poonawala judgment.
In that judgment, the apex court had laid down a slew of guidelines for the Centre and the States to prevent hate crimes including appointment of nodal officers to take note of such crimes, fast-tracking trials, victim compensation, deterrent punishment and disciplinary action against lax law enforcement officials.
Relying on the same, the petitioners in the present plea sought registration of first information reports and probe by special investigation teams into instances of attacks on Christians and Christian institutions.
The plea also sought quashing of the frivolous cases filed by such attackers on the victims.
Source: Barandbench
