Saturday, 12 Oct, 2024
Annamalai was earlier prosecuted in a hate speech case where for allegedly using "hate speech" against a Christian missionary NGO in remarks he made to Rajavel Nagarajan of the Pesu Tamizha Pesu YouTube channel. Image Source: Times of India
The Tamil Nadu Public (Law and Order) Department issued an order on April 25 allowing proceedings against Annamalai in accordance with the court's directive.
In response to claims that K Annamalai, the state president of the Bharatiya Janata Party, is inciting discord among communities, the Tamil Nadu government has approved his prosecution. Based on a complaint filed by activist Piyush Manush, Annamalai is sanctioned for allegedly inciting hatred during a speech he delivered in Madurai in September 2022. Annamalai spoke about an incident from 1956 which involved DMK founder and former Tamil Nadu CM C N Annadurai. It was implied that Annadurai's remarks had offended devotees of Goddess Meenakshi Amman, leading to an apology following a warning from Forward Bloc leader Muthuramalinga Thevar. Manush filed a complaint with the Salem police and district government, requesting legal action against Annamalai, despite the fact that many have questioned the authenticity of this incident.
After considering the plea, the Salem judicial magistrate court ordered government approval for prosecution because the charges fall under Indian Penal Code section 153-A, which prohibits inciting hatred amongst groups based on factors such as religion, race, place of birth, domicile, language, etc. The Tamil Nadu Public (Law and Order) Department issued an order on April 25 allowing proceedings against Annamalai in accordance with the court's directive.
The Government Order read, “The government is satisfied that the statement made by Annamalai is with an intent to promote disharmony, feelings of enmity, hatred and ill-will between different groups, cause fear or alarm to the public and to disturb public tranquility.”
Annamalai was earlier prosecuted in a hate speech case where for allegedly using "hate speech" against a Christian missionary NGO in remarks he made to Rajavel Nagarajan of the Pesu Tamizha Pesu YouTube channel.
In the past few years, the country has seen a phenomenal rise in hate speeches cutting across political and religious lines. India does not have a specific law that defines hate speech, there are select legal provisions or sections in the law that prohibits speech, text or any publication that incites hatred between any community and groups.
Currently, the hate speech cases are registered under section 153A of the Indian Penal Code. Section 153A of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) penalises “promoting enmity between different groups on grounds of religion, race, place of birth, residence, language, etc., and doing acts prejudicial to maintenance of harmony.” This is punishable with imprisonment up to three years, with a fine, or both.
Based on the information provided in the National Crime Records Bureau’s (NCRB) Crime in India (CII) report, there has been a six-fold increase in hate speech crime in the country. While 2014 (323 cases) saw the least number of cases in the seven years, the year 2020, with 1,804 cases, saw the highest. Tamil Nadu had the highest number of cases (303), followed by Uttar Pradesh (243), Telangana (151), Assam (147) and Andhra Pradesh (142). In 2021, Andhra Pradesh (112) reported the highest cases followed by Uttar Pradesh (108). In the year 2022, around 1523 cases under section 153A of the IPC were registered across different states and UTs.
If we take a look at cases filed under Section 153B (imputations, assertions prejudicial to national integration), we can see a six-fold increase from 13 in 2014 to 82 in 2020. Although cases filed under IPC Section 295-297 (insults against the religious beliefs of an individual or community) saw an overall decrease by 3.2 percent. However, there was a 16.5 percent increase in these cases in the last year – from 1,459 in 2019 to 1,749 in 2020. Cases registered under Section 505 (which deals with hateful publication) increased almost six times in four years – 257 cases in 2017 to 1,527 in 2020.
Source: National Crime Records Bureau
Apart from the increase in the new cases, the number of pending cases with the police has also gradually increased. In 2016, a total of 903 cases were pending trial in courts, which further increased to 2736 by the end of 2020. The conviction rate of cases under Section 153 was as low as 20 percent in the five years between 2016 and 2020. In 2016, 15.3 percent of cases ended in convictions, while in 2020, the conviction rate had risen to 20.4 percent.
Hate speech has been a problem in India for decades. But the scale of the problem has accelerated in recent years, with Indians being regularly bombarded with hateful speech and polarising content. The issue of hate speech has often come up before India's courts. But the judiciary has mostly been wary of imposing restrictions on free speech. In 2014, while hearing a petition which asked the Supreme Court to issue guidelines to curb hate speeches made by political and religious leaders, the court recognised the adverse impact these could have on people but refused to go beyond the scope of existing laws.
The Supreme Court on April 28, 2023 directed the states to suo moto register FIRs on the incidents of hate speech and proceed against the violators without waiting for someone to lodge a complaint. A bench comprising of Justice KM Joseph and BV Nagarathna ruled that all hate speech makers, regardless of their religion, would be subject to the court's order. The court emphasised the need to safeguard the country's secular nature. The court went so far as to highlight the precise criminal statutes that should be used to prosecute hate speech offenders. They are found in the Indian Penal Code (IPC) Sections 295A (deliberate and malicious acts intended to outrage religious feelings) and 153A (promoting enmity between different groups on the basis of religion), 153B (imputations, assertions prejudicial to national integration) and 505 (public mischief).
The highest court further stated that hate speech is "capable of affecting the secular fabric of the country" after labelling it a serious violation.
In an attempt to limit and deal with the hate speech, the government has introduced a new bill in the monsoon session of the parliament which brings major changes in the Indian Penal Code, Code of Criminal Procedure and the Indian Evidence Act. The IPC is expected to be replaced by the Bhartiya Nyaya Sanhita. The newly presented law in Parliament calls for penalty for spoken, written, or displayed signs that offend people's religious sensibilities. A one-year prison sentence has also been established for people who intentionally use language to offend someone's religious sensibilities.
The MP Bezbaruah Committee, the TK Vishwanathan Panel, and the Law Commission had all advocated adding hate speech as a separate offence to the statute, which is what the current bill now aims to do. The law that addresses religious offences also suggests a prison sentence of up to two years for anyone who damages or destroys an item that is considered sacred by a group of people. Separately, the Bhartiya Nyaya Sanhita has suggested up to three years in prison for those who publish or spread remarks, inaccurate information, or reports that incite religious, regional, caste, or communal hatred.
