Yogi Govt moves to drop murder and other charges against 10 accused in the 2015 Dadri lynching of Mohammad Akhlaq; withdrawal request filed in court.

The Yogi Adityanath government in Uttar Pradesh has taken steps to drop all charges, including murder, against the 10 individuals involved in the 2015 killing of Mohammad Akhlaq in Dadri, more than ten years after a mob murdered him due to beef rumors.

The Uttar Pradesh government has petitioned the Upper Sessions Court in Gautam Buddha Nagar, where the case is being tried, to have all charges against the accused dropped, according to the plea, a copy of which Outlook has. Vishal Rana, the son of Dadri-based BJP leader Sanjay Rana, is one of them.

A number of sections of the Indian Penal Code (now replaced by the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita) were used to initially charge the accused, including 302 (murder), 307 (attempt to murder), 323 (voluntarily causing hurt), 504 (intentional insult with intent to provoke breach of peace), and 506 (criminal intimidation).

A temple loudspeaker purportedly declared that 52-year-old Akhlaq had killed a cow and kept beef in his refrigerator, leading a mob to pull him from his house and beat him to death. Danish, his son, was seriously hurt while attempting to protect him.

As directed by the State Government in a letter dated August 26, Bhag Singh, Assistant District Government Counsel, Gautam Buddha Nagar, filed the withdrawal application on October 15.

The application, which is still pending in court, states that the prosecution’s withdrawal has received written clearance from the Uttar Pradesh governor. It also restates the government’s stance that a government laboratory correctly recognized the meat found at the site as beef.

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A letter from Brijesh Kumar Mishra, Joint Director (Prosecution), Gautam Buddha Nagar, instructing Bhag Singh to proceed in accordance with Section 321 of the Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC), which addresses withdrawal from prosecution, is attached to the application. This clause gives a public prosecutor or assistant public prosecutor the authority to drop out of a case entirely or in relation to particular offenses, but only with the court’s approval.

When discussing mob lynching as a separate type of crime, Akhlaq’s lynching turned into a national hot spot. Rather of garnering widespread censure, the murder elicited sharply divided reactions. The reasons for the attack caused controversy among politicians, public intellectuals, and media outlets, with some trying to minimize or justify the violence.

Many saw the lynching as a turning point in history, when concerns about intolerance, majoritarianism, and the politics of food began to dominate public conversation.

Citing growing intolerance, writers and artists returned their state prizes in protest; citizens’ organizations staged “Not In My Name” marches through cities; and academics cautioned that the lynchings were an indication of a more serious breakdown of liberal democratic norms in the nation.

Meanwhile, Akhlaq’s family’s quest for justice got caught up in political battles, ranging from public rallies in support of the accused to shifting forensic claims and counter-investigations.