'Custody no longer needed': Bombay high court bail to 9 Nagpur riots accused

NAGPUR: The Nagpur bench of Bombay high court on Wednesday cautioned against hate crimes and vigilantism, observing that mob violence strikes at the heart of Constitutional order. However, the court granted bail to nine persons accused in the Nagpur riots, observing their custody was not required any further, reports Vaibhav Ganjapure.

The riots erupted on March 17 after a row surrounding Mughal emperor Aurangzeb's tomb in Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar.

"Mobs can't be allowed to take law into their own hands. Nobody has the right to become a self-appointed guardian of law and forcibly administer his or her interpretation of law on others, especially not with violent means," Justice Urmila Joshi-Phalke said, citing Supreme Court rulings.

Quoting an apex court order in the Kodungallur Film Society case, the judge described hate crimes as "a product of intolerance, ideological dominance and prejudice", and emphasised that such conduct must not be tolerated, "lest it results in a reign of terror".