Ashish Ranjan
Tuesday, the Supreme Court stated that “the prohibition of hate speech is a fundamental requirement for maintaining communal harmony” in the country. According to PTI, a bench of Justices KM Joseph and BV Nagarathna made this oral observation while hearing a petition against hate speech.
The bench asked Solicitor General Tushar Mehta what actions have been taken in response to the filing of FIRs and remarked that solely filing complaints will not solve the problem of hate speech. Mehta informed the court that 18 FIRs related to hate speech have been filed. In defiance of Mehta and Additional Solicitor General KM Nataraj’s objections, the case was scheduled for a hearing on Wednesday.
In October 2022, the supreme court ordered the police commanders of Delhi, Uttar Pradesh, and Uttarakhand to take “immediate” suo moto action against hate speech offenders by filing criminal cases without waiting for formal complaints. The bench of Justices K M Joseph and Hrishikesh Roy expressed distress over hate speech, describing it as “extremely disturbing” and asking, “What have we reduced religion to?”
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The court had also warned that “any reluctance to comply with this directive will be considered a contempt of court, and appropriate action will be taken against the insubordinate officers.” While India lacks a formal legal framework for dealing with hate speech, Sections 153A and 295A of the Indian Penal Code are invoked to define hate speech in a broad sense.
