Respect for the constitutional values, democratic values and rule of law are fundamental to the existence of a civilized society, a state and a nation. Protecting the life and liberty of its citizens is the sacrosanct duty of the State. The State and its institutions alone have the power to curtail the liberty and life of a person according to procedure established by law. Private citizens do not have the power to curtail other’s liberty or life except in the circumstances laid down by the criminal law of the country. More than 300 mob lynching incidents have occurred in India since 2015. Lynching by irate mobs of those suspected of having committed crimes like theft, rape, murder and those suspected to have slaughtered cows, consumed, sold or transported beef have been reported from across the length and breadth of India. The intervention of the Supreme Court of India in 2018 led to a fall in the mob lynching incidents. The Apex Court also suggested to the Central Government to consider enactment of a special legislation. The Central Government is yet to enact the same and the incidents have once again begun to be reported in the newspapers since January 2021. The infliction of extra-judicial punishment by private citizens on those suspected to have violated the law or social norms of a society in the form of mob lynching has posed a serious threat to the rule of law and to the administration of criminal justice system in India. The writers of the present paper seek to examine the efficacy of the existing laws to combat mob lynching in India and assess the need for a special legislation through an empirical study