A PIL has been filed in the Supreme Court seeking intervention over alleged constitutional failure to curb racially motivated violence, following the brutal assault and death of Tripura student Angel Chakma in Dehradun after an attack this month.
New Delhi: A public interest litigation was filed before the Supreme Court, urging immediate judicial action to address what it terms a “continuing constitutional failure” in preventing racially motivated attacks against people from India’s North-Eastern states, in the wake of the brutal assault and subsequent death of Tripura student Angel Chakma in Dehradun, Uttarakhand.
The PIL, filed under Article 32, highlights that Angel, a final-year MBA student, died on December 26 from severe injuries sustained after being attacked on December 9 in the Selaqui area. According to a complaint filed by his brother, Michael Chakma, the brothers were confronted by a group of youths allegedly intoxicated, which led to an altercation that soon turned violent.
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The attackers are said to have abused them with racial slurs and attacked them using sharp weapons. Angel suffered multiple stab wounds, including serious injuries to his neck and abdomen, and was admitted to the ICU at Dehradun’s Graphic Era Hospital, where he later passed away.
Angel’s last recorded words during the confrontation as his final plea for constitutional identity before the violence turned fatal was,
‘We are not Chinese… We are Indians. What certificate should we show to prove that?’
The PIL argues that despite clear indicators of racial hatred, incidents like these are routinely treated as ordinary criminal cases, leading to the erasure of the hate motive and diminishing their constitutional seriousness.
It contends that there is no framework in the initial criminal justice process to identify and treat racial violence as a distinct constitutional offence, which perpetuates impunity.
Citing earlier incidents of 2014 about death of Arunachal Pradesh student Nido Taniam, the plea asserts that Angel Chakma’s killing is not an isolated tragedy but part of a recurring pattern of racial violence acknowledged by the Union government itself in Parliament.
Even after the introduction of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023, and Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023, the petition states that there is still no statutory recognition of hate or racial crimes, no requirement to record bias motivation at the FIR stage, and no specialised investigative or victim-protection mechanism.
The PIL claims that such violence continues to violate the guarantees of equality, dignity, liberty, and fraternity under Articles 14, 15, 19, and 21, undermining the constitutional value of fraternity in the Preamble. It has requested the Supreme Court to issue binding guidelines recognising racially motivated violence as a separate constitutional wrong and to ensure stronger measures for protection and accountability.
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Meanwhile, Uttarakhand Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami has expressed deep sorrow, personally speaking to the victim’s father and assuring stringent action.
According to officials, five accused have already been arrested, while another suspect believed to have fled to Nepal is being traced, with a reward announced for information.
Dhami stated that he has spoken to Tripura Chief Minister Manik Saha, Union Home Minister Amit Shah, and Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, and assured that the Uttarakhand government stands firmly with the bereaved family and will ensure severe punishment for those responsible.