Amid strong opposition and protest by BJP legislators, the Congress government passed The Karnataka Hate Speech and Hate Crimes (Prevention) Bill, 2025, through a voice vote in the Legislative Council on Friday. The Bill was passed in the Assembly a day earlier.
The Opposition BJP and the JD(S) have termed the Bill as a “political tool” and a “direct attack on free speech”.
Responding to the allegations, Home Minister G Parameshwara said, “It (the Bill) has been brought in the interest of society, to maintain peace, harmony, law and order and has nothing to do with politics. A similar law has been brought in Maharashtra by the BJP government there.”
During the debate, BJP MLC C T Ravi said the Bill reminded him of the Emergency. “This Bill is vague in nature… It will just give free licence to act against political opponents,” he added.
Leader of Opposition Chalavadi Narayanaswamy claimed that a ‘false’ case was filed against him for ‘advising’ the chief minister on reservation. “This Bill will be used to file (such) false charges against political opponents,” he said.
Hitting out at the Congress government, BJP MLC K C Naveen said, “This government couldn’t act against those who shouted ‘Pakistan Zindabad’ slogans in the Vidhana Soudha premises.”
It has been learnt that the BJP might file a petition before the court against the Bill.
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Meanwhile, opposing the Hate Speech Bill, Karnataka BJP MP and Union Minister Shobha Karandlaje wrote a letter to Karnataka Governor Thaawarchand Gehlot on Friday.
“Article 19 (1) (a) of the Constitution of India guarantees freedom of speech and expression to every citizen. Any restriction on this right must strictly conform to the limited grounds specified under Article 19 (2). The bill departs from these constitutional limits by employing broad, vague and subjective expressions such as ‘disharmony’, ‘ill-will’ and ‘prejudicial interest’, which are not precisely defined. These terms confer excessive discretion of the executive, establish arbitrary and selective enforcement, which is inconsistent with constitutional safeguards,” the letter reads.
The letter to the Governor further states, “The… expansive language of the legislation is capable of being invoked to silence Kannada language activists, women’s organisations, representatives of SC and ST, backward classes, minorities, journalists, student groups and civil society organisations that raise issues of governance, social justice or administrative accountability. Instead of empowering vulnerable communities, the bill risks becoming an instrument to deter them from articulating grievances and participating meaningfully in public discourse, thereby defeating the very constitutional promise of equality, dignity and inclusive democracy.”