India Supreme Court Rejects Hate Speech Petitions

The Supreme Court of India on Wednesday declined a series of petitions seeking additional guidelines to curb hate speech, ruling that existing criminal laws provide sufficient mechanisms to address the issue and that judicial intervention to create new offences would violate separation of powers.

A bench comprising Justices Vikram Nath and Sandeep Mehta, hearing the long-pending batch of cases originating in 2020, emphasized that the creation of criminal offences and prescription of punishments lies within the legislative domain. "The constitutional scheme founded upon the doctrine of separation of powers does not permit the judiciary to create new offences or expand the contours of criminal liability through judicial directions," Justice Nath said while pronouncing the order.

The court rejected arguments of a legislative vacuum, stating that provisions under the Indian Penal Code and related statutes already cover acts promoting enmity, outraging religious sentiments or disturbing public order. It pointed to procedures under the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita and the Code of Criminal Procedure, including the mandatory registration of first information reports for cognisable...