New Delhi: The Union home ministry, is mulling changes to the IPC to make attacks which are racial in nature and are “likely to cause fear or alarm or a feeling of insecurity amongst members of religious or racial groups’’ as “non-bailable’’ offences with a minimum three year jail term.
The MHA is of the view that a standalone “anti-racial law’’ cannot be brought in the country. Instead amendments to the IPC are being examined to address the issue of rising crimes against persons of north-east origin, sources said.
The section 153-A of the IPC deals with such hate crimes and attacks which are racial in nature or prejudicial to maintenance of harmony. “The section may be amended to make it more stringent,” a source said.
Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi had pitched for an anti-racial law during a poll rally earlier this year. However, MHA officials said such a law cannot be brought because various complications may arise.
