Supreme Court Vows To Prosecute Hate Speech Regardless Of Offender's Faith

The Supreme Court said Friday (18 August) that instances of hate speech would be prosecuted without bias based on the faith of the offender.

This was said by a bench led by Justice Sanjiv Khanna in response to a lawyer's allegation about a rally held in Kerala in July, where one of the slogans chanted was "death to the Hindus."

"We have made it very clear, hate speech will be treated equally, no matter which side is doing it," Justice Khanna said.

Advocate Nizam Pasha intervened to say that "hate has no sides."

This exchange took place during the hearing of a series of petitions regarding the increase in hate speech incidents.

The Supreme Court said in October last year that it was “tragic what we have reduced religion to” in the 21st century, remarking that a "climate of hate prevails in the country."

The top court directed the police and authorities to take immediate action against hate speech makers and offenders of communal violence, without waiting for a formal complaint to be filed.