In August 2022, a group of men intercepted a vehicle carrying cattle in Madhya Pradesh’s Narmadapuram district and assaulted its occupants on suspicion of cattle smuggling. The truck driver, 50-year-old Sheikh Lala Nazir Ahmed, died in the attack.

This was no aberration. From Pehlu Khan in Rajasthan to Alimuddin Ansari in Jharkhand, killings justified in the name of cattle protection have carried little consequence. Years of weak accountability for cow vigilantism have created a culture of impunity, signalling to mobs acting in the name of cow protection that they can take the law into their own hands. The difference now is that the target of intimidation is no longer only the victim of the mob — it is the judge who holds the mob accountable.

In June 2026, additional district and sessions judge Tabassum Khan did what her duty required of her: She applied the rule of law and convicted 14 men for the lynching of Nazir Ahmed, sentencing them to life imprisonment. The verdict was followed by a vicious campaign of abuse and vilification. Instead of pursuing an appeal, detractors chose to intimidate the judge. The judge’s........

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