Supreme Court: The Indian Criminal Code (IPC) Section 153A must be invoked anytime such offensive comments are made, according to the Supreme Court’s ruling on Monday. This is because there is no clear definition of hate speech under Indian law. Acts that incite hatred amongst various groups on the basis of religion, race, place of birth, domicile, or language are punishable under Section 153A.
Bench of Justices clarifies the statement
“It is not everything that is said is hate speech or invites 153. We have to bear that in mind also. The concern is hate speech is not defined, [so] we have to fall back on 153A,” the Court said. Nevertheless, a bench of Justices KM Joseph and BV Nagarathna clarified that not every comment against someone can be classified as hate speech and that there must be some level of vilification for it to be given that label.
No hate speech will be made during the event
Arvind Kejriwal, the chief minister of Delhi, had been the subject of criminal proceedings because of a speech he gave in the lead-up to the 2014 Lok Sabha elections. The Court called the parties’ attention to this by referencing a recent order it had made staying those proceedings. A number of petitions asking for action to be taken against hate speech events were being heard by the Supreme Court. The Hindu Janakrosh Morcha, which took place in Bombay on February 5, was the subject of a particular petition before the court. The court had stated that the morcha could only be permitted subject to the stipulation that no hate speech will be made during the event, during the hearing of the matter on February 3. It had also mandated that the occasion be captured on camera.
Nothing improper had occurred
The bench asked what happened at the event when the case was discussed on Monday. Tushar Mehta, the Maharashtra government’s Solicitor General (SG), argued that nothing improper had occurred. Advocate Nizam Pasha, the petitioners’ legal representative, said that smaller gatherings connected to the aforementioned march included instances of hate speech. The bench stated that it would like to view the rally’s film, and Pasha later added that he was anticipating speech transcripts of the occasion. Only interlocutory applications in the case have been scheduled for hearing, the SG continued. To this Justice Joseph replied, “We do not mind hearing applications, those are not our enemy. Our common enemy is hate speech.”
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