NEW DELHI, Dec 31: A Public Interest Litigation (PIL) has been filed in the Supreme Court seeking judicial intervention to address what it describes as a continuing constitutional failure to prevent and respond to racial discrimination and violence against citizens from the Northeast and other frontier regions of India.
The PIL has been filed in the backdrop of the killing of Anjel Chakma, a 24-year-old MBA student from Tripura, who succumbed on December 27 to grievous injuries sustained in a racially motivated attack in the Selaqui area of Dehradun. Chakma, a resident of Machmara in Unakoti district, was allegedly stabbed to death in the presence of his younger brother while pursuing his studies in Uttarakhand.
Filed by Delhi-based lawyer Anoop Prakash Awasthi, the petition has made the Centre, all states and Union territories parties to the case. It seeks the issuance of appropriate writs under Article 32 of the Constitution for alleged violations of fundamental rights guaranteed under Articles 14, 19(1)(a) and (g), and 21.
The plea urges the court to frame interim guidelines, pending legislation, recognising “racial slur” as a distinct category of hate crime and prescribing punishment for such offences. It also seeks directions to establish a nodal agency or permanent body at both central and state levels to receive and redress complaints related to racial crimes.
The petition further calls for the creation of dedicated special police units in every district or metropolitan area to specifically deal with racial discrimination and violence. It also seeks directions for conducting workshops and debates in educational institutions to address prevailing racial prejudice and promote awareness.
Referring to the Chakma killing, the plea notes that despite the apparent racial motivation, India’s criminal justice system lacks a mechanism to identify or record racial bias at the initial stage of investigation. As a result, such cases are treated as ordinary crimes, diluting their constitutional gravity and perpetuating impunity.
The petition argues that the incident is not isolated, citing past cases including the death of Arunachal Pradesh student Nido Taniam in 2014 and multiple assaults on Northeastern students and workers in metropolitan cities. Though these incidents have been acknowledged by the Centre in parliamentary replies, the plea contends that no dedicated legislative or institutional framework has been created to address them.
