The hate speech laws in India aim to prevent discord among its many ethnic and religious communities. The laws allow a citizen to seek the punishment of anyone who shows the citizen disrespect "on grounds of religion, race, place of birth, residence, language, caste or any other ground whatsoever". Section 153A of the Indian Penal Code prohibits citizens from creating disharmony or feelings of enmity, hatred or ill-will between different groups of people.
The Constitution The Constitution of India does not provide for a state religion. Article 25(1) states, "Subject to public order, morality and health and to the other provisions of this Part, all persons are equally entitled to freedom of conscience and the right freely to profess, practise and propagate religion". Article 19 gives all citizens the right to freedom of speech and expression but subject to "reasonable restrictions" for preserving inter alia "public order, decency or morality". Article 28 prohibits any religious instruction in any educational institution wholly maintained out of state funds.
Laws restricting the freedom of expression India prohibits hate speech by several sections of the Indian Penal Code, the Code of Criminal Procedure, and by other laws which put limitations on the freedom of expression. Section 95 of the Code of Criminal Procedure gives the government the right to declare certain publications “forfeited” if the “publication ... appears to the State Government to contain any matter the publication of which is punishable under Section 124A or Section 153A (Sec.196 BNS) or Section 153B (Sec.197 BNS) or Section 292 (Sec.294 BNS) or Section 293 (Sec.295 BNS) or Section 295A of the Indian Penal Code” (Sec.299 BNS).
Section 153A (Section 196 of BNS) Section 153A of the Indian penal code says now Bhartiya Nayaya Sanhita Section 196 (BNS) , inter alia:
Whoever (a) by words, either spoken or written, or by signs or by visible representations or otherwise, promotes or attempts to promote, on grounds of religion, race, place of birth, residence, language, caste or community or any other ground whatsoever, disharmony or feelings of enmity, hatred or ill-will between different religious, racial, language or regional groups or castes or communities, or (b) commits any act which is prejudicial to the maintenance of harmony between different religious, racial, language or regional groups or castes or communities, and which disturbs or is likely to disturb the public tranquillity, . . . shall be punished with imprisonment which may extend to three years, or with fine, or with both.
Section 295A (Section 299 of BNS) Section 295A of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) (now Section 299 Bhartiya Nyaya Sanhita of 2023 ) enacted in 1927 says:
Whoever, with deliberate and malicious intention of outraging the religious feelings of any class of [citizens of India], [by words, either spoken or written, or by signs or by visible representations or otherwise], insults or attempts to insult the religion or the religious beliefs of that class, shall be punished with imprisonment of either description for a term which may extend to [three years], or with fine, or with both. Legislative history of Section 295A
A book, Rangila Rasul, was published by Rajpal Malhotra in 1924. The book concerned the marriages and sex life of Muhammad. On the basis of a complaint, the publisher was arrested and brought to trial twice, but was acquitted both times because there was no law in force at the time prohibiting insult to religion. As the book was deemed to not have been published with the specific intent to cause enmity or hatred between different religious communities, under Section 153A it was deemed a legal publication. The Indian Muslim community demanded a law against insult to religious feelings, as they understood that Section 153A did not offer this protection. Hence, the British Government enacted Section 295A in 1927. The Select Committee, before enactment of the law, stated in its report that the purpose was to punish persons who indulge in wanton vilification or attacks upon other religions or their religious figures. They did account for the fact that a writer could provide an insulting treatment of a religion as a deliberate provocation in order to facilitate social reform and recommended that the words with deliberate and malicious intention be inserted in the Section accordingly. This law was enacted during the ongoing trials of Rajpal Malhotra but was not retroactive, so he was ultimately freed in 1928. The publisher, having survived two previous assassination attempts, was murdered by Ilm-ud-din in his own publishing shop in 1929. As a result, Ilm-ud-din was arrested, tried and executed despite appeals submitted by Muhammad Ali Jinah, who would later found Pakistan. After his execution Ilm-ud-din was considered by some members of his religion, especially those in the areas which would eventually become Pakistan, as a martyr and mentioned with honorifics such as 'Ghazi' and 'Shaheed'.
Case List
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