Vigilantism Trumps Justice: Uttar Pradesh Government’s Withdrawal of Charges in Akhlaq’s Lynching Case

On 28 September 2015, Mohammad Akhlaq, a 52-year-old Muslim was brutally lynched to death by a Hindu mob in Bisada village, Dadri, in Uttar Pradesh (UP). Both Akhlaq and his 22-year-old son, Danish, were dragged from their home and beaten over allegations of slaughtering a cow and storing beef; claims which were announced by a temple loudspeaker. Ten years later, in a move fraught with legal and political consequences, the state’s Yogi Adityanath government filed an application to withdraw all charges that had been made against 18 men accused of Akhlaq’s lynching (Ali, 2025; Press Trust of India, 2025). This case is significant because it demonstrates how criminal law serves as an instrument of the state, contingent on political will that can either initiate, or obviate, the process of justice. The UP-government’s retreat from charging the perpetrators of this heinous hate crime can be seen as a win for vigilante justice, where: vigilantes 1, justice 0.