CPI(M) leader terms the UP government move a ‘politically motivated attempt to subvert justice’
NEW DELHI — Senior Communist Party of India (Marxist) leader and former Rajya Sabha MP Brinda Karat on Saturday sought President Droupadi Murmu’s urgent intervention over the Uttar Pradesh government’s move to withdraw charges against the accused in the 2015 mob lynching of Mohammed Akhlaq.
Akhlaq was killed in Dadri’s Bisahada village as a mob attacked him and his son following an alleged temple announcement claiming he had slaughtered a cow.
In her letter sent to President Murmu sent on Saturday, Karat alleged that the Yogi Adityanath’s BJP-led state government, with the written approval of the Governor, is attempting to derail the judicial process by withdrawing the criminal case as it enters an advanced stage of trial.
Karat recalled the killing of Akhlaq who was brutally beaten to death by a mob outside his home on the night of September 28, 2015, following rumours that he had stored or consumed beef. His son, Danish, sustained grievous injuries in the same attack and continues to suffer the long-term effects of the assault.
A criminal case was registered under Sections 147, 148 and 149 (rioting), 302 (murder), 307 (attempt to murder), 323, 504, 506, 427 and 458 of the Indian Penal Code. The incident had triggered nationwide outrage and is widely regarded as one of the earliest and most prominent cases of mob lynching linked to communal mobilisation in recent years.
Karat said the trial is already at an advanced stage. The charge sheet has been filed and proceedings are underway. In 2022, the victim’s daughter, a direct eyewitness, recorded her testimony before the court, naming and identifying all the accused. Two other direct eyewitnesses are yet to depose, she noted, underlining that substantive evidence against the accused is already on record.
Despite this, Karat alleged that the Uttar Pradesh government has decided to withdraw the case and has filed an affidavit to that effect before the District Court in Greater Noida, after obtaining written permission from the governor. She described the grounds cited by the government as “wholly indefensible”, including claims that the attackers used lathis rather than firearms, that there was no personal enmity with the victim, and that continuation of the trial could disturb communal harmony.
Karat further alleged that the prosecution itself contributed to prolonged delays by failing to summon witnesses in a timely manner and is now using those delays as justification to abandon the trial altogether.
Terming the move a “politically motivated attempt to subvert justice”, Karat said the proposed withdrawal amounts to a blatant misuse of Section 321 of the Criminal Procedure Code. She questioned the constitutional propriety of the governor permitting such a step in a case involving murder, attempt to murder and mob lynching.
“If such a case is withdrawn,” she warned, “what will remain of the rule of law? Will the same logic then be applied to all mob-lynching cases on the grounds that lathis were used or that communal harmony demands withdrawal?”
Calling the matter urgent, Karat informed the President that the affidavit approved by the governor was scheduled to be taken up by the court on December 12, 2025, but the hearing was postponed at the request of the prosecution.
Appealing for immediate intervention, Karat urged the President Murmu to direct the governor to withdraw permission granted to the government, warning that any failure to act would undermine public faith in the justice system and set a dangerous precedent for mob-lynching cases across the country.
