New Delhi: The Supreme Court Friday directed state governments and police authorities to take “suo motu action” on hate speech makers without waiting for a complaint to be filed.
The top court went on to seek status reports from governments of National Capital Territory (NCT), Delhi, Uttarakhand and Uttar Pradesh on action taken by their police on hate speeches within their jurisdictions.
“We feel that this Court is charged with the duty to protect the fundamental rights and also preserve the constitutional values and the secular democratic character of the nation and in particular, the rule of law,” the court said in its order
A bench of Justices K.M. Joseph and Hrishikesh Roy ordered that “any hesitation to act in accordance with this direction will be viewed as contempt of court and appropriate action shall be taken against the erring officers.”
“We further make it clear that such action will be taken irrespective of the religion that the maker of the speech or the person who commit such act belongs to, so that the secular character of Bharat as is envisaged by the Preamble, is preserved and protected,” the order added.
Read the full text of the order here: