NEW DELHI/CHANDIGARH: Stressing that calls to boycott a particular community are not acceptable, the Supreme Court on Friday mooted the idea of setting up district-wise committees to look into hate speech. The SC asked the Centre to consider its suggestion to put in place an inbuilt mechanism to check hate speech and come back with the government’s views by August 18.
"There has to be harmony and comity between the communities. All the communities are responsible. The problem of hate speech is not good and nobody can accept it," the bench observed.
A bench of Justices Sanjiv Khanna and S V N Bhati suggested that the DGPs of states can be asked to form such panels, comprising 3-4 police officers.
"We can ask the DGP to constitute a committee of three or four officers nominated by him who will receive and peruse all materials from station house officers and take a call if the material is authentic and issue appropriate directions to the concerned police officer. At the SHO level and police level, the police need to be sensitised," the bench said.
The SC was hearing a plea over alleged hate speeches targeting a particular community in Haryana, Delhi, Uttarakhand and Uttar Pradesh. The court directed these states to file a status report by next Friday.
Meanwhile, the Haryana government, on Friday, told the Punjab and Haryana High Court that the demolition drive in violence-hit Nuh was not ‘ethnic cleansing’ as suggested by the HC. It said the authorities followed due process of law.
On Monday, the HC had halted the demolition drive in Nuh, questioning if it was to drive out a particular community from the district.
On Friday, when the matter came up before it, the division bench of Justices Arun Palli and Jagmohan Bansal said it should be heard by another bench led by the chief justice and referred the matter to it.
Talking to reporters, Haryana’s additional advocate general Deepak Sabharwal said the demolition drive can now resume as there is no stay.