BENGALURU: With a view to creating awareness about the Hate Speech and Hate Crimes Prevention Bill recently tabled by the Government of Karnataka, Citizens for Democracy organised a seminar on the Hate Speech Bill and Civil Liberties at Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan on Saturday.
Addressing the audience, senior advocate and jurist B V Acharya said, “The bill has been introduced in the House with an oblique motive to curtail the freedom of speech. Is it necessary to have this law for the well-being of the state? In my opinion, this is not a bona fide exercise of power. It is introduced with an oblique motive of curtailing the freedom of speech and expression and freedom of the press.”
He added, “Today, we cannot go to court to challenge it because it is still premature. It is essential to create public opinion about the bill to prevent it from becoming a law. Sections 299 and 196 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) deal with the subject of hate crimes and hate speech. They have merely changed the words and added totally wrong clauses."
"For instance, they have included ‘dead person’ — if somebody speaks something against a dead person and a third party is hurt by the words, they will be punished. This means that in future, if you say that Mohammed Ali Jinnah was responsible for the creation of two nations, you will be behind bars."
"Not just individuals, as per the bill, even an organisation can be punished. The provisions under this bill might be misused by the police by curtailing the rights of citizens. As far as possible, the powers of the police to arrest people must be minimised.”
Acharya highlighted that there is nothing new added to the bill except the inclusion of dead persons and organisations. In addition to this, the state has provided for mandatory imprisonment of a minimum of one year and a maximum of seven years, along with a penalty of Rs 50,000.
He explained, “While the central law to punish the same offence prescribes three years or a penalty, the state has made it seven years along with the penalty. How can two different laws overlap each other to punish the same offence? This is a draconian provision enacted in the bill. For a similar type of offence, the central law will prevail over the state law unless the President gives assent to it.”
Acharya said, “The new Hate Speech and Hate Crimes Bill has not become a law yet. Though both Houses have already passed it, it will not come into force unless it receives assent from the Governor and the President. Freedom of speech and expression are the most cherished rights of a citizen. Post the Emergency period in India, people showed the repercussions of curtailing rights through their votes. Unfortunately, the ruling parties do not seem to learn lessons from the past. They still think that they can suppress the liberty of citizens.”