The Bill is meant to empower the state government to prevent and control hate crimes and hate speeches concerning religion, race, caste or community, sex, gender, identity, sexual orientation, place of birth, residence, language, disability or tribe and related intolerance.
Published Feb 06, 2025 | 3:07 PM ⚊ Updated Feb 06, 2025 | 3:07 PM
The draft Bill details separate offences under hate speech and hate crime.
Synopsis: With the Supreme Court taking cognizance of the increasing number of cases linked to hate crimes, the Karnataka government is drafting a Bill that will prevent and punish hate crimes and hate speeches.
The Congress-led Karnataka government is in the process of drafting a Bill to prevent hate crimes and hate speeches based on caste and religion.
The draft bill, The Hate Crimes and Hate Speech (Combat, Prevention and Punishment) Bill, 2025, will be tabled in the upcoming Assembly session.
With the Supreme Court taking cognizance of the increasing number of cases linked to hate crimes, the state government has come out with a draft Bill that will prevent and punish hate crimes and hate speeches.
According to the Bill sourced by The File, “A Bill to empower the State Government to take measures to provide for the prevention and control of hate crimes and hate speeches in terms of the Constitution and international human rights instruments concerning religion, race, caste or community, sex, gender, identity, sexual orientation, place of birth, residence, language, disability or tribe and related intolerance, in accordance with Constitutional and international law obligations; define the offence of hate crime and the offence of hate speech and the punishment of persons who commit those offences and for matters concerned therewith or incidental thereto.”
The draft Bill details separate offences under hate speech and hate crime. It lists the following grounds, such as religion, race, caste or community, sex, gender, sexual orientation, place of birth, residence, language, disability or tribe.
Punishment for a hate crime according the draft Bill states that, “Whoever commits a hate crime shall be punished with imprisonment for a year which may extend to three years or fine up to five thousand rupees or both.”
The draft bill, The Hate Crimes and Hate Speech (Combat, Prevention and Punishment) Bill, 2025, will be tabled in the upcoming Assembly session. (The File)
It further adds, “An offence of hate crime shall be cognizable and non-bailable and shall be triable by magistrate of the first class.”
The draft Bill explains communication includes any of the following: “Display; written, illustrated, visual or other descriptive matter; oral statement; representation or reference; or an electronic communication.”
When it comes to data, it defines it as, “electronic representations of information in any form as defined under clause (o) of sub-section (1) and section 2 of the Information Technology Act, 2000.”
Data message here will mean, “data generated, sent, received or stored by electronic means.” Harm means, “any emotional, psychological, physical, social or economic harm.”
When it comes to defining information, it states, “includes data, message, text, images, sound, voice, codes, compute programmes software and databases or microfilm or computer generated microfiche.”
Intermediary is defines as, “with respect to any particular electronic records, means any person who on behalf of another person receives, stores or transmits that record or provides any service with respect to that record and includes broadcast channels, telecom service providers, network service providers, internet service providers, webhosting service providers, social media…”
“There is a plan, there is a proposal whether we can come up with a Bill or we need to amend the existing penal code, the BNS is something that we are still mulling,” Senior Advocate and MLA AS Ponnanna, who is the legal advisor to Chief Minister Siddaramaiah told South First.
“These things are all on digital media. Information Technology is not a state subject. Whether we will be infringing upon the central law, there is already an Information Technology Act, all those things we will have to look into it.”
The government, he said, is making two drafts, a Bill and an amendment.
(Edited by Majnu Babu).
