A working definition of hate speech will have to be gleaned by interpreting our laws in conjunction with the constitutional right to free speech. Under this conception, a merely offensive statement would not qualify as hate speech. Experience shows us that there can be no assurance that hate speech will somehow be sieved out of the veritable marketplace of ideas. The second ground requires a re-imagination of our hate speech laws. Just like the substantive hate speech provisions in the IPC, the Programme Code is also much too vague.

Source: The Hindu September 20, 2020 18:22 UTC