On Wednesday, the Supreme Court disposed of a public interest litigation seeking court-framed guidelines to curb identity based and racial violence against persons from the North East, choosing instead to route the concerns through the Attorney General of India. The decision is significant as it underscores the Court’s caution against judicially creating mechanisms that may inadvertently deepen regional identities in a federal structure.
The PIL was triggered by the alleged racially motivated killing of a Tripura youth in Uttarakhand and was filed by Advocate Anoop Prakash Awasth, who highlighted repeated instances of discrimination and group-based violence faced by people from the North Eastern states. Appearing in person, the petitioner urged the Court to direct States to appoint nodal agencies to address complaints of identity-based discrimination, arguing that existing legal frameworks and recent criminal law reforms lack specific safeguards. He also pressed for at least institutional grievance redressal mechanisms, particularly in educational spaces, citing the social reality of bystander apathy in such incidents.
A Bench led by Justice Surya Kant, with Justice Joymalya Bagchi and Justice Vipul Pancholi, acknowledged the seriousness of the concerns but warned against solutions that could foster further fragmentation. The Chief Justice cautioned that creating region-specific remedial structures could send a counterproductive signal, observing that such steps may lead people to be “identified with regions” rather than reinforcing national unity.
While noting that the petition raised “vital questions” about preventing discrimination on grounds prohibited by the Constitution, the Court held that, at this stage, the matter should be examined by the executive. Consequently, it disposed of the PIL with liberty to the petitioner to place the plea and the Court’s order before the Attorney General for consideration by the appropriate authority.
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