Centre, State Govts Should Stop Hate speech: Supreme Court
- By Thetripurapost Desk, New Delhi
- Jul 15, 2025
- 628
The Supreme Court said that the Central and State governments should stop hate speech. Also, ensure that the freedom of expression of citizens is not violated.
A bench of Justice BV Nagarathna and Justice KV Vishwanathan said- People are considering hate speech as freedom of speech, which is wrong. People need to be made aware about freedom of expression, so that the government does not need to control it.
The Supreme Court said this while hearing the petition of Kolkata resident Wajahat Khan. Cases have been registered against him in several states for posting content inciting hatred and communal unrest on social media.
During the hearing, the Supreme Court sought suggestions from the Center, states and Wajahat Khan's lawyer on how hate speech can be controlled without harming freedom of expression.
The court said- Why don't people find hate speech strange and wrong? Such content should be controlled. Also, people should avoid sharing and liking such hateful content.
The Supreme Court has continued the ban on Khan's arrest. He also said, what is the use of repeatedly filing FIRs and sending them to jail? Are all the cases really related to the same tweet? On this, Khan's lawyer said- My client has apologized for the old tweets. I only want the court to see whether all the FIRs are really related to these tweets or not.
A complaint was filed against 22-year-old social media influencer and law student Sharmishtha Panoli accusing her of spreading hatred and hurting religious sentiments. A case was registered against her under section 196 (1) (A) / 299/352/353 (1) (C) of the BNS.
Khan was arrested by the Kolkata Police on June 9. However, he was granted bail by a lower court on July 3.
In the last hearing on June 24, the Supreme Court bench had issued notices to the Central Government and the governments of Assam, Delhi, Haryana and West Bengal. It had sought answers from them as to how the FIRs registered against Khan could be clubbed together. Also, Khan's arrest in the FIRs registered in other states was banned.
Khan's lawyers had told the court that the case against their client was filed by Sharmistha Panoli out of revenge.
Sharmistha, who studied law from a college in Pune, was arrested from Gurugram on May 30. Wajahat had filed a complaint against Sharmistha Panoli at the Garden Reach Police Station. She is accused of making indecent and communal comments regarding Operation Sindoor on social media.
However, Panoli later deleted that post and apologized. Later, the Calcutta High Court granted interim bail to Sharmistha Panoli with certain conditions.