Mob Lynching| Allahabad HC Stays Investigation In Moradabad Case
A 37-year-old man was killed on suspicion of cow slaughter in Majhola, Uttar Pradesh’s Moradabad district, in December 2024;
The Allahabad High Court has stayed the ongoing police investigation into an alleged mob lynching incident from December 2024 in Moradabad, noting that authorities may have wrongly invoked a lesser charge under the newly enacted Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS).
The division bench of Justice Siddharth and Justice Avnish Saxena passed the order in a petition filed by Mohd. Alam, the brother of the 37-year-old man who was killed after the mob accused him of cow slaughter.
The petitioner sought formation of a Special Investigation Team (SIT) to probe the case and urged the court to ensure enforcement of the Supreme Court's guidelines in Tehseen S. Poonawalla v. Union of India (2018), which laid down preventive, remedial, and punitive measures to address mob lynching.
The FIR in the case was registered at Majhola police station under Section 103(1) BNS (murder). However, the petitioner argued that the facts clearly pointed to a case of mob lynching, which falls under Section 103(2), a more serious provision. The plea cited the existence of two FIRs related to the incident to establish a prima facie case of mob violence.
Petitioner’s counsel relied on the Supreme Court’s recent reiteration in National Federation of Indian Women (NFIW) v. Union of India, in which the apex court had stressed the binding nature of its 2018 direction on all authorities.
However, the counsel for the petitioner submitted that only the local Investigating Officer had filed a counter-affidavit, which did not indicate whether the mandatory steps under the Supreme Court ruling had been followed.
Holding this inadequate, the bench directed the State Government to file a proper compliance affidavit within three weeks.
“We are of the view that respondent no. 1 should file a better counter affidavit/compliance affidavit keeping in view the directions of the Apex Court,” the court said.
Pending this compliance, the bench stayed further investigation into the case, which it noted had been registered under a potentially incorrect section of law.
The matter is now posted for further hearing on August 5, 2025.
Case Title: Mohd. Alam vs. State Of Uttar Pradesh And 4 Others
Download order here