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Polity & Governance
Mahesh

24/10/22 21:35 PM IST

Hate Speech

In News 
  • Recently Supreme court has directed the police chiefs of Delhi, Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand to take “immediate” suo motu action against any hate speech by lodging criminal cases without waiting for formal complaints.
Laws in India 
  • Hate speech is an incitement to hatred against a particular group of persons marginalized by their religious belief, sexual orientation, gender, and so on.
  • The Law Commission, in its 267th report on hate speech, said such utterances have the potential to provoke individuals and society to commit acts of terrorism, genocide, and ethnic cleansing.
  • India does not have a formal legal framework for dealing with hate speech, a set of provisions of the Indian Penal Code (IPC), loosely defining hate speech, are invoked.
  • Section 295 of IPC: – it defines and prescribes punishment for deliberate and malicious acts, intended to outrage the religious feelings of any class by insulting its religion or religious beliefs.
  • Origin: it was brought in 1927 (Rangila Rasool case). Its antecedent lies in the “communally charged atmosphere of North India in the 1920s.
  • Section 298 IPC penalises ‘uttering, words, etc., with deliberate intent to wound the religious feelings of any person.
  • Section 153A IPC penalises ‘promotion of enmity between different groups on grounds of religion, race, place of birth, residence, language, etc., and doing acts prejudicial to maintenance of harmony’.
  • Section 66A of the IT Act: – punishes sending offensive messages through communication services is added when such speech is made online.
  • Part VII of the Representation of People Act, 1951 classifies hate speech as an offence committed during elections into two categories: corrupt practices and electoral offences.
Supreme Court Judgements 
  • Ramji Lal Modi v State of Uttar Pradesh (1957): – Supreme Court upheld the law on the grounds that it was brought in to preserve “public order”.
  • Public order is an exemption to the fundamental right to freedom of speech and expression and the right to religion recognised by the Constitution.
  • Baba Khalil Ahmed v State of Uttar Pradesh (1960): – the Supreme Court said that the “malicious intent” of the accused can be determined not just from the speech in question but also from external sources.
  • Baragur Ramachandrappa v State of Karnataka, (2007 ): – The SC adopting a pragmatic approach ordered that public order supersedes the individual interest of free speech.
Source- Indian Express 

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