Crime Is A Crime, Must Be Dealt With An Iron Hand: Apex Court Asks Attorney General To Consider Plea Seeking Prevention Of Discrimination & Violence Against Citizens Of North-East Region

“A crime is a crime and it must be dealt with an iron hand,” a bench comprising Chief Justice Surya Kant, Justice Joymalya Bagchi and Justice Vipul M Pancholi said. It asked Attorney General R Venkataramani to consider and refer the petition to an appropriate authority.

"Identifying persons on the ground of race, region, sex and caste would amount to treading a regressive path after so many years of independence," the bench said.

At the outset, petitioner Anoop Prakash Awasthi, a Delhi-based lawyer, said the matter was raised on the floor of Parliament but lawmakers declined to make any such agency to deal with such hate crimes.

The PIL was filed on December 28 last year in the backdrop of the brutal killing of Anjel Chakma, a 24-year-old MBA student from Tripura. Chakma died on December 26, 2025 to grievous injuries sustained in a racially motivated attack in Selaqui area of Dehradun.

The lawyer said no one came forward to save Chakma.

The Apex Court refused to entertain the PIL and said, “As of now, we deem it appropriate that the aforesaid issue ought to be brought before the competent authority.”

“The instant writ petition is disposed of with liberty to the petitioner to hand over the soft copy of the petition to the office of AG , also along with a copy of this order,” the bench said, adding that the top law officer will do the needful.

The PIL has sought judicial intervention to address the "continuing constitutional failure" to prevent and respond to racial discrimination and violence against citizens from northeastern states and other frontier regions.

Chakma had gone to Dehradun after completing his graduation in Holy Cross School, Agartala, to pursue an MBA. He was stabbed to death in the presence of his younger brother Michael.

His family members want capital punishment or at least life imprisonment for all the accused involved in the incident. The plea made the Centre and all the states and Union territories as parties.

With PTI Inputs