Mob Justice

SUBMITTED BY
Vardaan Suri
PRN – 18010224162
Division – C
Course – BBA LLB
Batch – 2018 - 23

of Symbiosis Law School, Noida

Symbiosis International (Deemed University), Pune

In
September, 2018

Under the guidance of

Dr. Garima Yadav,
Associate Professor,
Symbiosis Law School, Noida
47/48, Phase 2, Industrial Area, Sector 62, NOIDA, Uttar Pradesh 201309
 CERTIFICATE

The project entitled “Mob Justice” submitted to the Symbiosis Law School,
Noida for foundation of Ethics as part of Internal assessment is based on
my original work carried out under the guidance of Dr. Garima Yadav
(Associate Professor, Symbiosis Law School, Noida) from 03/08/2018 to
04/09/2018. The research work has not been submitted elsewhere for
award of any degree.

The material borrowed from other sources and incorporated in the research
has been duly acknowledged.

I understand that I myself could be held responsible and accountable for

plagiarism, if any, detected later on.

Signature of the candidate

Date: -
 Acknowledgements

No creation is an individual effort and same is the case with this project. It
is a matter of absolute pleasure to express a token of heartfelt gratitude to
my Foundation of Ethics professor, mentor and guide, Dr. Garima Yadav.
Her timely advice and optimistic approach have been great stimulants in
the completion of this project.

It is also a privilege to thank our Director Dr. C.J. Rawandale for giving me
this opportunity enabling me to know more about Mob Justice which led to
the widening of my mental horizon. I am thankful to my parents for their
continuous support and encouragement. Finally, I am grateful to God who
supports me in all my endeavours despite my faults.

Vardaan Suri

PRN – 18010224162

Division – C

Course – BBA LLB

Batch – 2018 – 23
 Index

S.No Particulars
1. Introduction
2. Review of Literature
3. Discussions
4. Conclusion
5. References
 Mob Justice

Introduction
Mob justice is like a Bollywood film cliche " No FIR, no arrest, action on the
spot". Mob Justice can be defined as an action perpetrated by a group
ranging from spontaneous to semi-organized crowd of people who are
mostly violent-oriented and forcefully act to abuse the rights of an accused
person or persons ostensibly to ensure social order and to deter potential
threats. Alternatively, Mob Justice could be seen as an act of inflicting pain
or agony on a person who is believed to have violated societal norms or
practices by either organized or unorganized group in the quest to maintain
or instil justice and security in the society. In other words, Mob Justice is
to secure community justice and peace by sending a signal to prospective
criminals to desist from transmitting their intentions into actions.

The Ethical Issue is that almost everyone has ever seen, heard or taken
part in Mob Violence before indicating that Mob Violence is a day-to-day
issue of the social system. In addition to it is seen that almost everyone
who takes part in it feels satisfied that at least Justice has been done.
Another worrying point is that people engage in mob action without
necessarily knowing the offence of the alleged and even the people
standing by, passing by, area boys and other vigilant groups take part in it
when the alarm is blown. When the people of the Mob realise that holding
an individual accountable is nearly impossible for law, then Mob Justice is
followed by theft or unnecessary fights leading to harm to public property.

The reasons Mob Justice is resorted to even when there is a proper Legal
System in place needs to be determined. In addition to this it is important
to ascertain the implications of Mob Justice to understand the worrying
situation and so that the people involved in it are ready to give it a thought.
Short term and Long-Term Suggestions need to be analysed in order to
curb this menace. Now some articles will be reviewed to understand this
menace better.
Review of Literature
In this research, we will be mainly looking at two pieces of work that has
been done before by various scholars. We will be firstly looking at a
research paper titled “Mob Justice” by Department of Social Work of
University of Gothenburg where they analyse Vigilante Justice in modern
Uganda through a qualitative research they conducted in Uganda.
Secondly, we will be looking at an online article titled “Where is the justice
in mob justice” by Damudor Arambam where he discusses the menace of
Mob Justice by giving the reasons behind it and taking examples from
Indian context.

❖ “Where is the justice in mob justice?” by Damudor Arambam

In this article the author tries to focus on different aspects of Mob justice
like the reasons behind it, how it is contrary to the Indian Legal System
and how it defeats the purpose of a prison by taking examples from the
Indian state of Manipur. First, the article critiques the beating and chasing
away of suspected criminals, where the mob appoints themselves accuser,
prosecutor, judge and executioner all at the same time. This even leads to
public nuisance (burning of cars and houses) which do not correspond with
the crime committed.
The author then mentions the weakening of the sanctity of laws. According
to him, the practice of Mob Justice, denies the victim the Fundamental Right
to a Fair Trial. Also, Article 11 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights
specified about the right to stand innocent of a crime before being proved
guilty. Sometimes Mob Justice deprives the victims’ rights to live. The
Constitution of India has clearly states in Article 21 that “no person shall
be deprived of his or her personal liberty except according to procedure
established by law”. Articles 3 and 5 of Universal Declaration of Human
Rights and Articles 6 and 7 of International Covenant on Civil and Political
Rights guarantee individuals the right to life, liberty, dignity and security of
person. Inherent in these articles is that no one should be subjected torture
or to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment.
The author then tries to hold Mistrust and Lack of Confidence in the Judicial
System along with other factors like poverty and unemployment for the
upsurge of Mob Justice. He then further gives examples of this menace like
the lynching of a woman seen with a calf, Killing of a prisoner and the
misuse of the AFSPA. He believes that in our society mob violence is
considered a deviant behaviour but not necessarily a crime. By inference,
this might account the reasons why many perpetrators of mob attacks go
unpunished and the menace reoccurs. According to him, the menace of
Mob Violence has assumed such alarming proportions in Manipur that
government, policy makers, human rights defenders group and intellectual
need to think about the disastrous consequences of it. He mentions that
Criminal Code of India is silent on mob violence as a crime and that further
motivates people. He suggests that this can be countered by arresting and
prosecuting them for the resultant effect of their actions.
In my views the author should have tried suggesting a new legislation
rather than accepting the lack of a legislation. In addition to this he did not
mention the poor structure and administration of Indian Jails due to which
the cases in which prisoners are killed occur and the way out.

❖ “Mob Justice” by Department of Social Work of University of

Gothenburg
This research article analyses the grave situation of Mob Justice in Uganda
by interviewing journalists, Law students, Social workers and policemen.
The article showed Mob Justice as a complex phenomenon and blamed it
on the structural level of Ugandan society. An important issue that the
research paper brings to notice is that the Judicial system is fragile and that
the citizens from lower social classes are less likely to use the judicial
system which also shuts people out with its structure. It also showed how
poor people get frustrated when something wrong is done to them, and
then in the Ignorance of Law indulge in Mob Justice. This clearly pointed
towards the status of poor in Uganda. The research shows that the
respondents in the research discuss several structural changes like
transparency within the Judicial System and improvement of the
Educational System, as ways of preventing Mob Justice and increase
awareness of this issue. The authors then elaborate and suggest various
reforms in the Educational System. In addition to this, they primarily
suggest sensitization in collaboration with different professional and public
actors.
In my views, the examples and problems raised in this research article
are a bit specific to Uganda. On the other hand, the explanation for the
causes of Mob Justice, the happenings in a similar situation and the
prevention methods were something that citizens of all the countries facing
the problem of Mob Justice could relate to and implement.
However, this Research Article falls short in addressing the issue whether
sensitization is a constructive way of addressing Mob Justice without
considering the structural causes like Lack of Education and
Unemployment.
Discussion
This research undertook three main objectives. First of all, it wanted to
determine the causes behind citizens resorting to Mob Justice. Secondly the
Implications of Mob Justice needed to be ascertained and Thirdly it wanted
to come up with relevant suggestions to curb the menace of Mob justice.
Looking at the First Objective, we got to know that we cannot entirely
blame the public for the upsurge in Mob Violence without taking a critical
look at the Justice Delivery system. Mistrust and lack of confidence in the
judicial system are some of the reasons the public indulge in mob justice.
An enormous increase in Mob Justice is directly proportionate to the
increase crime rate and backlog of cases in the courts. Various crime
associated factors like poverty, unemployment in the state are leading to
upsurge of Mob Justice in our society. This is so because when people feel
insecure because of crime, and for that matter robbery, they will defend
and protect themselves by resorting to violent acts of instant justice. Here
people’s ignorance of the law could also implicate them in Mob Violence.
The sanctions set by the public replace the failed judicial system. When
the public, instead of the legal system, distribute punishments they
tend to be much more severe and does not seem to stand in
proportion to the crime. Unemployment results in large groups of people
being idle on the streets. These are the people most likely to engage in Mob
Justice because they are easy to mobilize. One cause of Mob Justice can be
the normalization of violence. For example, poor children in India are
beaten up by their parents for their wrongdoings and this is also
shown through movies to a wider public. If a person sees mob
justice carried out on a regular basis it becomes normalized as a
way of handling situations with alleged criminals. Lack of Speediness
of Justice is also a major cause as people believe that the alleged victim
does not deserve to roam free.
The Second Objective aimed at ascertaining the implications of Mob
Justice. The main implication according to me is that there is no fair trial
an alleged criminal miss out on the opportunity to prove his or her
innocence, and innocent people risk getting killed. The worrying
implication is that most people in the developing countries are
unaware of the laws. what they assume as unlawful or immoral may
be permitted by law. This implication roots from various current life
examples, like that of Karni Sena, where a group of people assaulted the
Padmaavat Director Mr. Sanjay Leela Bhansali for making a film hurting
public sentiments. It was later upheld that the film did not contain any
objectionable scenes and that Mr. Bhansali was innocent. Many a times,
people just on the apprehension of a crime being taking place beat up a
person without giving him/her a chance to keep his point. We can see the
growing cases of Mob Lynching by Gau Rakshaks in India as an apt
example. In addition to this there is significant harm to public and private
property. It is nearly impossible to hold an individual responsible for Mob
Violence and this fact is taken advantage of. The culprits roam free without
any fear thus promoting this menace further.
Regarding the Third Objective, in order to prevent Mob Justice, the
structural causes need to be addressed. The government should work more
actively with the issue of unemployment and poverty. Improvement of the
Educational System is required where the Law should be integrated in the
curriculum. According to our respondents, changes in the judicial system
are required. The government has to deal with the corruption in
order to rebuild the public trust in the system. It is suggested that the
transparency of the judicial system has to be increased in order to fight
corruption. The transparency of the system also builds trust in that the
judicial process is upheld. The police force needs more resources, especially
regarding the issue of manpower, in order to uphold the law.
Put differently, if the Police and Law Courts work effectively,
professionally, and impartially, it will inspire confidence and trust
among community members to report crime suspects on daily basis
without recourse to Mob Justice.
Adults are supposed to be the true reflection of the society, and therefore
children behave according to what society teaches them. It is, therefore,
with little surprise that children grow up with the slapping, caning,
smacking, and spanking they receive from adults upon the accusation of
being "bad boys or girls". This point has been noted that many teachers
cannot imagine a school system entirely free of such punishment. This is
because the teachers themselves grew up in violent environment, so they
learned very early to believe in the effectiveness of punitive measures. This
needs to change as other methods of making children understand by
depriving them of such facility rather than beating them up needs
to be thought over. A proper legislation needs to be passed ascertaining
the liability of the group (or the leader as he/she instigates the mob) for
the damages and criminal proceedings for the miscreants or probable
culprits.
Conclusion

It is blatant disrespect to Justice by taking law into one’s hands. This is

what Mob Justice appears to do. Neither Constitution nor the Law of
the land preaches violence in the name of justice. It is not public’s
duty to “punish” an assumed offender, as our country has various
institutions committed to work towards delivering justice. In the fit of
anger and emotion, crowd is not able to make rational decisions,
and can even punish an innocent person. The legal concept of
“Innocent unless proven guilty” is widely ignored as the victim is not
even given a chance to present his case.
Mob rules if the government abdicates its powers. From violation of
Fundamental Rights to setting bad precedents, mob justice is a
curse, if strict action is not taken, such acts might become a norm in future.
Such incidences must be dealt in a manner allowing zero room for
complacency. Threat perception and immediate action will deter such
acts. Identifying miscreants and deploying rapid action forces in
collaboration with local police authorities will aid to curb any untoward
incidents. In addition to this, people should be inculcated with
empathy, sensitivity, politeness through various social
organisations so that they logically understand the dire
consequences of their actions.
 References

❖ Arambam, D. (2015). Where is the justice in mob justice?. [online]

Ifp.co.in. Available at:
https://www.ifp.co.in/page/items/29745/where-is-the-justice-in-
mob-justice [Accessed 1 Aug. 2018].

❖ Keith, C. (2015). Mob justice. The Telegraph, [online] p.4. Available

at:
https://www.telegraphindia.com/1150310/jsp/opinion/story_7692.j
sp [Accessed 1 Aug. 2018].

❖ Westerlund, A. (2016). Mob Justice. [ebook] Department of Social

Work, University of Gothenburg, pp.1 - 58. Available at:
https://gupea.ub.gu.se/bitstream/2077/23084/1/gupea_2077_2308
4_1.pdf [Accessed 1 Aug. 2018].

❖ Yeboah-Assiamah, E.; Kyeremeh, T. (2014). Critical Assessment of

Public Administration and Civil Disobedience in Developing African
Democracies: An Institutional Analysis of Mob Justice in
Ghana. Journal of Law, Policy and Globalization 28, 1-[i].