Muslim judge from Madhya Pradesh gets police protection after threats over cow vigilante lynching verdict
Tabassum Khan faces coordinated online abuse and communal backlash for sentencing seven men to life imprisonment in Nazir Ahmad lynching case
NewsArc Bureau | Bhopal
A Muslim judge from Madhya Pradesh, Additional District and Sessions Judge Tabassum Khan, has been placed under police protection after facing a sustained campaign of death threats and online abuse over her verdict convicting men accused of lynching a cattle trader.
THE VERDICT
On June 12, Khan, posted as Additional District and Sessions Judge at Narmadapuram, convicted men on charges including murder, attempt to murder, rioting and wrongful restraint, sentencing several of them to life imprisonment. The case related to the 2022 killing of 50-year-old Nazir Ahmad, who was transporting cattle at night when he was intercepted by a group of self-styled “cow vigilantes.” The assailants dragged Ahmad and his two companions from their vehicle and assaulted them on suspicion of cattle smuggling. Ahmad later died of his injuries; his companions survived. In her judgment, Khan described the incident as a clear case of mob lynching.
THE BACKLASH
In the days that followed, Khan became the target of a coordinated online campaign, with videos circulating that combined communal slurs with explicit threats of rape and murder. Local reports said the convicted men’s families gathered outside the courtroom in protest, arguing the accused had been punished for “saving cows.” Critics also alleged, without evidence, that Khan’s ruling had been influenced by her religious identity — a claim the judiciary has strongly rejected.
COURT AND BAR RESPONSE
The Madhya Pradesh High Court took suo motu cognisance of the threats on July 1. A division bench of Justice Vivek Agarwal and Justice Avanindra Kumar Singh directed the Superintendent of Police, Narmadapuram, to provide Khan with immediate protection, and sought affidavits from the Director General of Police and the Additional Chief Secretary (Home) detailing steps taken to identify and prosecute those responsible. The bench observed that such threats “directly hampers the judicial independence and fearless working of our Judicial Officers,” and noted that judicial orders can only be challenged through legal remedies such as appeal or revision.
The Madhya Pradesh Police has since registered an FIR against unidentified persons over the threats and abuse. The Supreme Court Bar Association also issued a statement on July 3 condemning the intimidation campaign and calling on state authorities to act swiftly against those responsible.
JUDGE SPEAKS OUT
In her first public reaction, Khan said she had been left “traumatised” and made to feel as though she had “committed some crime” by delivering the verdict. Her comments came in a personal message to former Supreme Court judge Markandey Katju, who had written in her support and later made her message public. Katju, in his own remarks, asked what kind of society expects lynching convicts to go unpunished simply because the judgment was delivered by a Muslim judge, and urged “all right-minded Indians” to back Khan.
