The Mamata Banerjee government is planning to introduce a draft bill seeking to protect citizens against lynching.
Titled the West Bengal (Prevention of Lynching) Bill 2019, the legislation likely to be tabled in the House on August 30, as per leading news agency reports and prescribes a life imprisonment as maximum punishment and fines ranging from Rs 1 lakh to Rs 5 lakh.
A draft bill described lynching as “any act or series of acts of violence or aiding, abetting or attempting an act of violence, whether spontaneous or planned, by a mob on the grounds of religion, race, caste, sex, place of birth, language, dietary practices, sexual orientation, political affiliation, ethnicity or any other ground,” reported The Telegraph.
The Rajasthan Assembly on August 5 passed an anti-lynching bill that provides for life imprisonment and heavy fines up to Rs 5 lakh to those convicted in fatal mob lynching incidents where the victim dies.
With ANI inputs