A meeting of the Cabinet of the Congress Government in Karnataka, headed by Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, on Thursday approved the introduction of a law to regulate hate speech in the forthcoming Belagavi session of the legislature. Among the penal provisions proposed in the Bill is imprisonment for two to 10 years for repeat offences.
“The proposal for the introduction of ‘The Karnataka Hate Speech and Hate Crimes (Prevention) Bill 2025’ has been approved by the Cabinet,” Law and Parliamentary Affairs Minister H K Patil said after the meeting.
The law minister said that “no existing law deals explicitly with hate speech,” and hence the law was considered necessary to prevent disturbances in society. He said the law had not been proposed to target the leaders of the Opposition BJP for communal speeches.
The new law proposes to “curb and prevent dissemination, publication or promotion of hate speech and crimes, which cause disharmony, hatred in the society, against the person or group of persons, organizations and provide punishment to such crimes”.
The Bill was placed before the Cabinet after the law minister, who served as the chairman of the scrutiny committee, approved it on February 22, 2025, and submitted it to the chief minister. The home department, which has piloted the Bill, placed it for discussions and clearances in the Cabinet meetings.
‘No need to reserve Bill for President’s consideration’
“Since the Bill falls under Entry 1 of List II of the 7th Schedule to the Constitution of India, the State Legislature has the power to enact the said Bill and since the provisions of the Bill do not appear to be inconsistent with the provisions of any Acts in force at the Centre, there is no need to reserve the Bill for the consideration of the Hon’ble President if it is enacted,” a Cabinet note on the bill stated.
The Karnataka Hate Speech and Hate Crimes (Prevention) Bill 2025 defines hate speech as “any expression which is made, published, or circulated, in words either spoken or written or by signs or by visible representations or through electronic communication or otherwise, in public view, with an intention to cause injury, disharmony or feelings of enmity or hatred or ill-will against person alive or dead, class or group of persons or community, to meet any prejudicial interest”.
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The law can be invoked for bias in the form of actions or words on the grounds of religion, race, caste, community, sex, gender, sexual orientation, place of birth or residence, language, disability, or tribe.
The law has defined a hate crime as the “communication of hate speech, by making, publishing or circulating or any act of promoting, propagating, inciting or abetting or attempting, such hate speech, to cause disharmony or feelings of enmity or hatred or ill-will against any person dead or alive, group of persons or organisation”.
Communication is defined as expressions, made in public view, by way of verbal, print, publication, electronic, or other means to convey hatred.
The penal provisions of the Bill include imprisonment for a term that is not less than one year, which can extend to seven years, along with a fine of Rs 50,000, for a first offence. For subsequent or repetitive offences, the punishment is imprisonment of two years, which may extend to 10 years, along with a fine of Rs 1,00,000.
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The crime of hate speech has been classified as cognisable, non-bailable and triable by a first-class judicial magistrate.
Exemptions and collective liability
The law, however, exempts books, pamphlets, papers, writing, drawing, painting representation or figure in electronic form or publications “justified as being for the public good”, or which “is in the interest of science, literature, art or learning or other objects of general concern; or which is kept or used for bona fide heritage or religious purposes”.
Action can be initiated under the law by an executive magistrate, special executive magistrate, or any police officer not below the rank of a deputy superintendent “on receiving information and after inquiry”. Action can be taken if the officials are of the opinion that there is sufficient ground for taking preventive action to maintain peace and order.
If the hate speech is linked to an organisation or institution, every person in positions of responsibility at the organisation at the time of the offence and the organisation “shall be deemed to be guilty of the offence and shall be liable to be proceeded against and punished”, says the proposed law.
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A designated officer of the state government will have the power to block or remove hate crime materials and will be able “to direct any service provider, intermediaries, person or entity to block or remove the hate crime materials from its domain, including electronic media”, states the proposed law.