'Hate speeches sullying atmosphere': SC asks petitioner to cite specific instances

New Delhi, Oct 10 (IANS) The Supreme Court on Monday orally observed that a petitioner may be right in claiming that hate speeches need to be stopped, as they are sullying the atmosphere in the country.

A bench of Chief Justice U.U. Lalit and Justice S. Ravindra Bhat was hearing a plea against rising hate speeches against the minority communities in the country.

Petitioner Harpreet Mansukhani, appearing in person, alleged that no action was being taken by government authorities against such speeches. The bench remarked that the petitioner may be right that the atmosphere is getting sullied by these hate speeches and perhaps the petitioner has every justifiable ground to say that this needs to be curbed.

The petitioner argued that hate speeches were being made to make India a "Hindu Rashtra" before 2024 general elections. She submitted that hate speech has been turned into a profitable business and a party funded the "Kashmir Files" movie and then it was made tax-free.

As the petitioner pointed out that another bench of the apex court had sought a status report regarding implementation of the Tehseen Poonawalla judgment, the top court asked the petitioner to file specific instances of hate speeches, instead of giving a vague overview on the issue.

The bench orally observed that it doesn't even know what are the details of those particular crimes, what is the status, who are the persons involved, whether any case was registered or not.

The petitioner submitted that there needs to be some directions to prevent such conspiracies resulting in such hate speeches. She added that whenever hate speech is made, it is like an arrow which never returns.

The bench pointed out that for courts to take cognizance, a factual background is required. After hearing arguments, the top court has scheduled the matter for further hearing in November.