Supreme Court dismisses plea seeking action on hate speech against Brahmins

During the hearing, the Court questioned why a particular community should seek protection against hate speech against themselves only and not for others.

New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Friday said that hate speech against any community has no place in the country, as it emphasised that harmony depends on education, intellectual growth, tolerance, and patience.

It also underscored that once the principle of fraternity is embraced by all, the problem of hate speech will automatically cease to exist.

A bench of Justices B V Nagarathna and Ujjal Bhuyan declined to entertain a plea that sought to recognise hate speech targeting the Brahmin community as a punishable offence, describing the tendency as "Brahmophobia."

The bench said it was not keen to entertain the plea argued by Mahalingam Balaji, stressing that there should not be any hate speech against any community.

“We don't want hate speech against any community in the country. It depends on education, intellectual development, tolerance, and patience. Once everyone follows the fraternity, automatically there will be no hate speech,” the bench said.

The bench asked why a particular community should seek protection against hate speech against themselves only and not for others. The bench said no one should indulge in hate speech, and the petitioner can take up the specific instances before the appropriate forums, but not the judiciary.

Balaji said the judiciary was also being targeted on social media.

The bench said it was not concerned about false attacks on the judiciary, as it dismissed the plea as withdrawn.

The plea sought directions to the Centre and states to recognise hate speech targeting the Brahmin community as a punishable form of caste-based discrimination, and to take prompt legal action against such instances.