Guwahati: A public interest litigation has been filed in the Supreme Court seeking judicial intervention after the death of 24-year-old MBA student Anjel Chakma from Tripura, who succumbed to injuries allegedly sustained in a racially motivated attack in Dehradun.

Chakma died on December 26, 2025, more than two weeks after assailants stabbed him during a confrontation on December 9 in the Selaqui area of Dehradun, Uttarakhand.

He remained unconscious throughout his treatment due to severe neck and spinal injuries, the plea said.

The petition, filed under Article 32 of the Constitution by Anoop Prakash Awasthi, alleges a systemic failure by the state to prevent, recognise, and effectively respond to racial violence against citizens from India’s north-eastern states.

According to the plea, Chakma and his younger brother were shopping when a group of men allegedly hurled racial slurs at them based on their physical appearance. The assailants then assaulted and stabbed both brothers, leaving Chakma critically injured.

The petitioner argued that India’s criminal justice system fails to treat racial bias as an aggravating factor at the investigation stage, leading authorities to register racially motivated assaults as routine criminal offences.

This, the plea said, weakens constitutional safeguards and fosters impunity.

Referring to past incidents, including the 2014 killing of Nido Taniam and repeated attacks on north-eastern students and workers in metropolitan cities, the petition noted that the Union government has acknowledged the issue in Parliament but has failed to establish a dedicated legislative or institutional response.

The plea further pointed out that the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023, and the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023, do not recognise hate crimes or racial offences.

It said the law does not require police to record bias motivation in FIRs, and authorities have failed to establish specialised investigative procedures or create victim-protection frameworks for such crimes.

This legislative vacuum, the petitioner submitted, violates Articles 14, 15, 19 and 21 of the Constitution and erodes the constitutional principle of fraternity.

The petition urged the Supreme Court to frame interim guidelines until Parliament enacts appropriate legislation. It sought recognition of racial slurs and racially motivated violence as distinct hate crimes with specified punishments, the creation of nodal agencies at the Centre and state levels to register and address racial offences, and the establishment of special police units in every district and metropolitan area.

The plea also sought directions for conducting awareness programmes, including workshops, seminars and debates, in educational institutions to promote social harmony and sensitivity towards diversity.

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