The Madhya Pradesh High Court has ordered continued police protection for Additional District and Sessions Judge Tabassum Khan after she received communal threats and online abuse following her judgment sentencing 14 men to life imprisonment in a 2022 lynching case.
A division bench of Justices Vivek Agarwal and Avanindra Kumar Singh took suo motu cognisance of media reports while hearing an ongoing matter related to the security of judicial officers. The court sought details from senior police and government officials on the steps taken to ensure the judge’s safety.
Judge Khan had, on June 12, convicted 14 men for the lynching of truck driver Sheikh Lala Nazir Ahmed, who was beaten to death in Barakhar village while transporting cattle from Madhya Pradesh to Maharashtra. The court held that the accused had formed an unlawful assembly with the common intention of attacking the victim.
After the verdict, groups identifying themselves as cow protection organisations reportedly staged protests, burned effigies of the judge and circulated social media posts targeting her religious identity. In one viral video, a man allegedly used abusive language against Judge Khan and threatened violence across the state if the convicted men were not released within 10 days.
Calling the matter serious, the High Court said such actions posed a direct threat to the independence of the judiciary. “We are of the opinion that such activities directly hamper the judicial independence and fearless working of our judicial officers,” the bench observed.
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