“Not everything that is said is hate speech,” says Supreme Court while hearing hate speech petitions

On February 20, 2023, the Supreme Court bench was hearing petitions seeking action in the cases of hate speech. While hearing the case, the bench said that there is no particular definition of hate speech under the Indian Constitution. The Supreme Court further stated that whenever such offending statements were made, the criminal justice system depends on Section 153A of the Indian Penal Code. The bench said that “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.”
During the hearing of the case, the top Court addressed the matter regarding Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal’s speech during the 2014 election campaign. The matter was heard by a two-judge bench including Justices BV Nagarathna and KM Joseph and they stayed the proceedings against the Delhi Chief Minister. In this context, the bench hearing hate speech petitions highlighted that “Not everything said amounts to hate speech.”

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Moreover, a petition was filed on the behalf of Shaheen Abdullah highlighting how thousands of Bajrang Dal members took a pledge to protect their religion with the use of ‘Trishul’ at a program held in Haryana’s Mewat. Also, the petition illustrated that at such events various speeches were made against Muslims, threatening the overall integrity and unity of the country. Justice KM Joseph said that “Our civilization, our knowledge is eternal and we should not belittle it by indulging in hate speech… The common enemy of all religions is hatred… Remove hate from the mind and you will see the difference.” Further, the top Court said that all the petitions regarding hate speech will be heard on 21st March 2023.

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