A murder can’t be justified by saying the victim belonged to a ‘certain community’: Supreme Court

The Supreme Court reverses a decision of single Judge of the Bombay High Court to grant bail to persons who had beaten to death a man three years ago.

The judge of the Bombay High court had granted bail to the accussed on the basis that their crime was not motivated

A single Judge of the Bombay High Court had granted bail to the assailants solely on the ground that their crime was not motivated by personal enrage but has been provoked in the name of religion.

The bail order of the High Court said that “the fault of the deceased was only that he belonged to another religion.”

Shaikh Mohsin was attacked by a group of 23 persons with bat, stones and hockey sticks on 2nd June 2014 night, when he was on his way to home.

According to the prosecution lawyer, the people of the group ( two juveniles) participated in a meeting of Hindu Rashtra Sena, just half an hour before the attack. The prosecution said, the juveniles attacked Mohsin because he was wearing a pastel green colour shirt and was sporting a beard. Further the prosecution said that the accused were highly motivated after the meeting.

The Supreme Court called the observation made by a single judge as drastic. The supreme court bench of S.A. Bobde and L. Nageswara Rao emphasised “the fact that the deceased [Mohsin] belonged to a certain community cannot be a justification for any assault much less a murder”.

In the order of February 8 and published on Thursday, said a court should be, “fully conscious of the plural composition of the country while called upon to deal with rights of various communities”.

The Pune Session court had rejected the bail application of the accused. It concluded that Mohsin was attacked “because he looked like a Muslim and that he was not concerned with disgracing Shivaji Maharaj”.

The supreme court however gave the judge the benefit of doubt, saying that he may not have intended to hurt the feeling of any particular community or supports the feeling of another. However, the apex court mentioned the fact that “words are clearly vulnerable to criticism”

Apex Court has directed accused persons to surrender and appear before trial court on 16th of February.