What is IPC Section 295A?

—  Section 295A defines and prescribes a punishment for deliberate and malicious acts, intended to outrage religious feelings of any class by insulting its religion or religious beliefs.

“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.”

— Simply put, Section 295A is one of the key provisions in the IPC chapter to penalise religious offences.

—  The chapter also includes offences to penalise damage or defilement of a place of worship with intent to insult the religion (Section 295); trespassing in a place of sepulture (Section 297); uttering, words, etc, with deliberate intent to wound the religious feelings of any person (Section 298); and disturbing a religious assembly (Section 296).

Section 295A has been invoked on a wide range of issues from penalising political satire and seeking bans on or withdrawal of books to even political critique on social media.

Note:  India does not have a formal legal framework for dealing with hate speech. However, a cluster of provisions, loosely termed hate speech laws, are invoked. These are primarily laws to deal with offences against religions.

What are the other similar Sections or Provisions?

— Section 153A IPC penalises ‘promotion of enmity between different groups on grounds of religion, race, place of birth, residence, language, etc., and doing acts prejudicial to maintenance of harmony’.

— Section 153B IPC penalises ‘imputations, assertions prejudicial to national-integration’.

— Section 505 of the IPC that punishes statements conducing to public mischief.

— Part VII of the Representation of People Act, 1951 classifies hate speech as an offence committed during elections into two categories: corrupt practices and electoral offences. The relevant provisions regarding hate speech in the RPA are Sections 8, 8A, 123(3), 123(3A) and 125.

— Model Code of Conduct (MCC) Item 1 (General Conduct)- prohibits parties and candidates from making any appeals to caste or communal feelings for securing votes.

— Section 66A of the Information Technology Act – In cases of hate speeches online, the section punishes sending offensive messages through communication services is added. In a landmark verdict in 2015, the Supreme Court struck down Section 66A as unconstitutional on the ground that the provision was “vague” and a “violation of free speech”. However, the provision continues to be invoked.

Why is Rangila Rasool case important ?

Section 295A was brought in 1927. The case which becomes important as it is  linked to the origin of Section 295A is Rangila Rasool case.

— Rangila Rasool was a tract — brought out by a Hindu publisher — that had made disparaging remarks about the Prophet’s private life. Cases against the first pamphlet, filed under Section 153A, were dismissed by the Punjab and Haryana High Court, which examined the question whether targeting religious figures is different from targeting religions.

—When a second, similar piece was published, it raised tensions. While the magistrate had convicted the publisher Rajpaul under Section 153A, the Lahore High Court held that a “scurrilous and foul attack” on a religious leader would prima facie fall under Section 153A — although not every criticism.

— This debate in interpretation prompted the colonial government to enact Section 295A with a wider scope to address these issues.

Point to ponder: Section 295A and similar laws are intended for the state to step in and restore “public order” rather than protect free speech. Comment.

( Source: lawcommissionofindia.nic.in and Hate speech, IPC Sec 295A, and how courts have read the law, The Indian Express)