Hate speech in media should not be allowed to be disguised as free speech or religious freedom by majoritarian forces, veteran journalist Sashi Kumar said in an intervention application in the Supreme Court.
Creating communal disharmony and hatred is an offence under Section 153A of the Indian Penal Code. A crime cannot be camouflaged as the right to free speech, Mr. Kumar, represented by advocate Kaleeswaram Raj, argued.
“It is an irony that instances of publications and telecasts which amount to an offence under Section 153A of Indian Penal Code [of creating communal disharmony and hatred between communities or groups] are sought to be protected under Article 19 (1)(a) of the Constitution by the majoritarian forces. When the constitutional scheme in this regard is clear, there is no ambiguity warranting a legislation”, the intervention application said.
Mr. Kumar said it was “important to guard against the State not only when it curtails the freedom of speech but also when it encourages hate speech in the guise of freedom of expression which is clearly against the ideology of the Constitution”.
Mr. Kumar filed the intervention application in a pending petition filed by Firoz Iqbal Khan seeking a ban on a show partially broadcast containing communal remarks about Muslims in connection with their entry into the civil services, even going as far as branding it as “UPSC Jihad”.
“Secularism is an unalterable basic structure of the Constitution”, he said.