Mob Lynching and Section 103(2) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023: Drafting Gaps, the Tehseen Poonawalla Guidelines, and  Early Practice

Author(s)	Akhila Sawan, Shivanshu Katare
Country	India
Abstract	Section 103(2) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023 is the first provision in Indian criminal law that punishes mob lynching in express terms. It applies when a group of five or more persons, acting in concert, commits murder on a listed ground such as caste, community, sex, place of birth, language or personal belief. This article reads the provision closely and points out where its drafting may cause trouble in court. It looks at the five-person threshold, the closed list of grounds, the words "acting in concert", and a printing error that the Jharkhand High Court had to correct. It then compares the section with the directions in Tehseen S. Poonawalla v. Union of India and shows that the two do different jobs. Finally, it examines how the section has been used so far, drawing on the Kerala High Court's Walayar bail decision, a recent Delhi charge-sheet, and the Supreme Court's 2025 order on compliance with Tehseen Poonawalla. The article ends with practical suggestions for amendment and for investigators.
Keywords	mob lynching; Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita; section 103(2); Tehseen Poonawalla; hate crime; criminal law reform.
Published In	Volume 17, Issue 2, July-December 2026
Published On	2026-10-22

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Journal of Advances in Developmental Research