New Delhi - The Supreme Court of India on Thursday ordered eight states to submit a report on the status of cases of violence against Christians and Christian institutions in the country.
The Bench of Justices comprising of DY Chandrachud and Hima Kohli ordered the states of 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 so collected is to be submitted to the Union Home Ministry, who is tasked with collating the report and file a report before the apex court.
The Supreme Court was hearing a plea filed by Archbishop Peter Machado, alongwith the National Solidarity Forum and the Evangelical Fellowship of India seeking implementation of the guidelines issued by the Supreme Court in its 2018 Tehseen Poonawala judgment.
In the Tehseen Poonawala judgment, the apex court lay down 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.
The petitioners in the present plea sought registration of FIR’s and enquiry by special investigation teams into instances of attacks on Christians and Christian institutions citing this judgement.
The Central government had earlier submitted an affidavit stating that there was no merit in the plea, and that the police had taken prompt action in all the cases cited.
When the matter was taken up for hearing yesterday, the Bench asked Senior Advocate Colin Gonsalves, who was appearing for the petitioners, about how many of the incidents mentioned can be classified as religious hate crime.
"Number of complaints against perpetrators - 53, number of arrests - 23, number of pastors arrested - 510!" said Gonzales.
The Senior Counsel outlined the incidents of violence against Christians across States, and pointed out how the perpetrators were not being prosecuted even as prayer meetings were being disrupted.