What steps have been taken to curb hate speech: SC asks Centre to collect data from states, UTs

The Supreme Court on Thursday asked the Secretary of the Union Home Ministry to collate information from states and Union Territories to clarify actions taken to curb hate speeches as per the top court's earlier order.

The bench, headed by Justices A M Khanwilkar, and comprising A S Oka and J B Pardiwala, was hearing a batch of petitions, one of them filed by Jamiat Ulama-i-Hind, seeking the apex court's intervention in curbing hate speech and rumour-mongering.

“As the first step, at least this information should be before us. Which states are proactive, which are not acting at all, which have acted partially…” the bench observed while listing the case after six weeks.

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The respondents, including the Centre, concerned states, and UTs as well as the Election Commission of India have been asked to file a response to the writ petitions within three weeks.

The court also asked the petitioners to prepare a chart of instances of hate speech and provide it to states in a week's time that are in turn supposed to inform the court about the steps taken by them in these cases.

The court was referring to its earlier rulings in which it had sought details on compliance with directions given by it regarding "preventive, corrective, and remedial measures" to curb untoward situations, such as mob violence and hate speech.

With PTI inputs