Indian court slams human rights body over Muslim lynchings
Court questions national human rights body for targeting Islamic seminaries while ignoring mob attacks on Muslims
NEW DELHI, India (MNTV) — An Indian court has sharply questioned the country’s human rights body for failing to act on mob violence against Muslims, while aggressively pursuing investigations into Islamic seminaries, raising concerns over selective intervention and institutional bias.
The observations were made by the Allahabad High Court during hearings on a petition challenging an order to investigate 558 Islamic seminaries in BJP-ruled Uttar Pradesh.
According to the legal news outlet Live Law, the court expressed concern that the commission was stepping into matters that could be handled by constitutional courts, while remaining absent in cases involving serious violence against minority communities.
A bench of Justices Atul Sreedharan and Vivek Saran said it was “surprising” that the body had not taken suo motu action in cases where Muslims were attacked, lynched, or denied proper investigation. The judges also questioned whether such institutions could direct state agencies to conduct inquiries in matters that do not clearly fall within their mandate.
The case stems from a complaint alleging financial irregularities, misuse of funds, and recruitment violations in state-supported madrasas, which led the commission to direct the Economic Offences Wing to conduct a probe. Petitioners argued that the move exceeded the body’s jurisdiction, including acting beyond the legally permitted time frame.
The court appeared to agree, noting that human rights bodies are not judicial authorities and cannot assume powers reserved for courts. It added that such issues should instead be brought before the High Court through public interest litigation rather than through directives issued by a statutory commission.
In a pointed observation, the bench noted that despite repeated incidents of vigilante violence and harassment—often linked to interfaith interactions—no examples were presented showing the body taking independent action. It described both national and state-level human rights institutions as “dabbling” in matters that do not prima facie concern them.
The court has issued notice to the commission and extended its earlier stay on the madrasa probe, indicating a preliminary view that the body may have acted beyond its mandate.
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