Karnataka is poised to make legislative history by becoming the first state in India to introduce a dedicated Bill aimed at curbing hate speech and hate crimes. The Karnataka Hate Speech and Hate Crimes (Prevention) Bill, 2025, scheduled for the upcoming legislative session, proposes stringent punishments, including imprisonment from two to ten years, and introduces the groundbreaking concept of collective liability for organizations.
The Longstanding Legal Gap in India
This move underscores a critical and persistent void in India's legal framework. While the term "hate speech" is frequently used in public and media discourse, it lacks a formal definition in the country's criminal statutes. Karnataka's Law and Parliamentary Affairs Minister, HK Patil, emphasized the necessity of this new law, stating that no existing legislation explicitly deals with the menace of hate speech.
Currently, in the absence of a specific law, police and law enforcement agencies across India rely on a patchwork of provisions from the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) to address incidents. These sections are primarily geared towards maintaining public order rather than penalizing hate speech as a distinct category of offence.
Current Legal Tools Against Hate Speech
The most commonly invoked provision is Section 196 of the BNS (successor to IPC's Section 153A), which penalizes promoting enmity between groups on grounds of religion, race, language, and other identities. However, enforcement is notoriously challenging. Data from the National Crime Records Bureau reveals a conviction rate of merely 20.2% for Section 153A in 2020, highlighting the difficulty in securing convictions.
Other frequently used sections include:
- Section 299 of the BNS (similar to IPC's 295A): Targets deliberate acts intended to outrage religious feelings.
- Section 353 of the BNS: Penalizes statements that may incite offences against the state or community or disturb public order.
While these are cognizable offences, they are not designed specifically for hate speech, often leading to legal ambiguity.
Supreme Court's Evolving Stance and Implementation Hurdles
The Supreme Court of India has actively grappled with this issue in recent years. In a significant intervention in October 2022, the court observed a prevailing "climate of hate" and directed police chiefs in several states to take suo motu action without waiting for formal complaints. This directive was later extended to all states and union territories in April 2023.
However, the apex court has also acknowledged the complexities of implementation. In August 2023, a bench admitted that defining hate speech is difficult, but the real challenge lies in the execution of laws and court orders. More recently, in November 2025, another bench clarified that it could not monitor every hate speech incident, entrusting the responsibility to local police and High Courts, guided by earlier judgments like the 2018 Tehseen Poonawalla case.
Previous Attempts to Define and Criminalize Hate Speech
The push for a specific law is not new. The Law Commission of India, in its 267th Report (March 2017), recommended inserting new sections (153C and 505A) into the IPC to criminalize incitement to hatred. Later, in 2022, a Private Member's Bill was introduced in the Rajya Sabha by BRS MP KR Suresh Reddy, seeking to define hate speech and hate crimes explicitly. Although it proposed omitting older, broader sections, it did not pass.
What Karnataka's Pioneering Bill Proposes
The Karnataka Bill draws inspiration from these earlier efforts but marks the first time a state government is taking concrete legislative action. Key features of the proposed Bill include:
A Broader Definition: It defines hate speech as any expression causing injury or disharmony against a person or group based on religion, race, caste, gender, sexual orientation, place of birth, or disability. The inclusion of "sexual orientation" and "gender" expands protected categories beyond traditional legal safeguards.
Collective Liability: This is a distinct and stringent provision. If hate speech is linked to an organization, individuals in positions of responsibility within that entity can be held legally accountable.
Content Takedown Powers: The Bill empowers the state government to block or remove hateful content circulating on the internet, addressing the modern challenge of online vitriol.
By introducing this Bill, Karnataka is not just attempting to fill a legal vacuum but is also setting a potential precedent for other states to follow, aiming to create a more specific and effective legal mechanism to combat the divisive and damaging impact of hate speech in society.
