Will deal with instances of hate speech equally: Supreme Court

“We are very clear, be it one side or the other side, they have to be treated alike. If anybody indulges in anything which we know is hate speech, they will be dealt with as per the law. It is something on which we have already expressed our opinion. I don’t think we need to repeat,” the judge said.

The bench, also comprising Justice S V N Bhatti, adjourned the hearing till August 25 and said it hoped that the SC guidelines in the Tehseen Pooonawala case were being followed by authorities. The court allowed the counsel who raised the issue of the alleged hate speech at the Youth League rally to raise his concerns in his application.

The SC had in that case laid down what should be done to prevent mob violence.

Hearing applications filed in the wake of the communal incidents in Haryana’s Nuh on August 11, the SC while rooting for communal harmony had said that the onus was on all communities to maintain peace.

Justice Khanna had also said that people having to run to courts everytime an instance of hate speech happens is not going to solve the problem and wondered if an internal mechanism in the form of a committee under the Director General of Police to vet such complaints should be put in place and asked the Centre to take instructions on this.