The court was hearing a petition filed by a Muslim man from Uttar Pradesh who said that he was assaulted and abused in the name of religion, but police did not register a case in response to his complaint. https://thewire.in/law/sc-on-hate-crimes-primary-duty-of-state-is-to-protect-citizens-no-compromise-at-all
A two-judge bench of Justice K.M. Joseph and Justice B.V. Nagaratna said “there cannot be any compromise on hate speech at all”, while adding that only when the state acknowledges such crimes can a solution be found.
“When action is not taken against hate crimes then an atmosphere is fostered which is very dangerous and it has to be rooted out from our lives. There cannot be any compromise on hate speech at all,” the court said.
The court then directed the Uttar Pradesh government to file a detailed affidavit on the matter and posted it for further hearing on March 3. On October 21, 2022, the top court had asked Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, and Delhi to crack down on those making hate speeches, observing, “where have we reached in the name of religion, what have we reduced religion to is tragic”.
It had ordered the three states in question to promptly register criminal cases against the offenders without waiting for a complaint to be filed.
08/02/2023