Govt to challenge Pehlu Khan lynching verdict, says CM Gehlot

After a Rajasthan court acquitted all six men accused of lynching Pehlu Khan, Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot on Wednesday said that the state government will file an appeal against the order.

The chief minister took to Twitter to assert that his government is committed to ensuring justice and said that stringent anti-lynching laws have been enacted in the state.

"Our state government has enacted a law against mob lynching in the first week of August 2019. We are committed to ensuring justice for the family of late Pehlu Khan. The state government will file an appeal against the order of Additional District Judge," Gehlot said in a tweet.

The Rajasthan Assembly had on August 5, passed an anti-lynching bill that provides life imprisonment and heavy fines to those convicted in mob lynching incidents after speedy trials.

Earlier today, a Rajasthan court acquitted all the six accused in the lynching case on the benefit of the doubt.

On April 1 in 2017, Khan, a 55-year-old dairy farmer from Haryana's Nuh, was beaten up by self-styled cow vigilantes near Behror in Rajasthan on the Delhi-Alwar highway.

He succumbed to his injuries at a private hospital two days later.

Two FIRs were filed in the case- one against the attackers and the other accusing Khan and his sons with allegedly transporting cattle without requisite permissions.