New Delhi: Calling hate speech a serious offence that can affect the secular fabric of India, the Supreme Court on Friday, April 28 directed all states to suo moto register cases of such offences even if there is no formal complaint.
The apex court underlined that a delay in registering such cases would be considered contempt of court.
Hearing a petition by journalist Shaheen Abdullah, a bench of Justices K.M. Joseph and B.V. Nagarathna said that its order on October 21, 2022 to three states – Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand and Delhi – would be extended from now on to all states and Union Territories. In 2022, the bench had ordered these states to register cases against those who deliver hate speeches based on Abdullah’s petition. She had then urged the apex court to extend the order nationwide, which it granted on Friday keeping in mind the growing instances of hate speeches.
The bench said, “The judges are apolitical and not concerned with party A or party B and the only thing they have in mind is the Constitution of India.”
It said “the court has been entertaining petitions against hate speeches in different parts of the country for ‘larger public good’ and to ensure establishment of ‘the rule of law’,” reported The Telegraph. The top court said any delay on the part of the administration in taking action on “this very serious issue” would invite the court’s contempt.
Also read: ‘When Politics and Religion Are Segregated, This’ll Stop’: 8 Quotes From SC’s Words on Hate Speech
In March, the bench, during a hearing of the case in a petition against hate speech in Maharashtra, had come down heavily on the state. It had said that instances of hate speech had been happening because “the state is impotent, state is powerless, it doesn’t act in time. Why do we have a state at all if it is remaining silent?” It had said that such instances would stop “the moment politics and religion are segregated”.
Justice Joseph had then said, “The minorities also have rights under the Constitution recognised by the founding fathers…[The] most important thing for a man is dignity; not wealth, health. If it is being demolished on a regular basis…Some statements are made, like, ‘Go to Pakistan’. They are those persons who had actually chosen this country. They are like our brothers and sisters…If we want to become a superpower, the first thing we need is rule of law…it speaks about brotherhood.”