Kerala High Court Suggests Mandatory Jail for Hate Speech
Deines Bail to BJP Leader P.C. George
February 23, 2025
The Kerala High Court has denied anticipatory bail to Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader P.C. George, citing repeated violations of bail conditions in prior hate speech cases and observing that in such cases jail sentences should be mandatory.
“First offender, he can escape with fine, second offender, he can escape with fine…there are sections in which second offence is given higher punishment, right?… According to me, (a) mandatory jail sentence is necessary, if there is an offence…mandatory jail sentence is necessary especially because India is a secular country…,” Justice P.V. Kunhikrishnan stated, according to The News Minute.
George’s comments during a TV discussion labelled all Muslims in India as terrorists and communalists, prompting immediate legal actions under the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023, and the Kerala Police Act.
George’s previous record includes multiple instances of anti-Muslim rhetoric. In May 2024, he faced charges in two separate incidents of hate speech, The News Minute noted, pointing out that in one case, he advised non-Muslims in Kerala to shun eateries owned by Muslims. Shortly after being granted bail for these comments, he issued similar statements.
Justice Kunhikrishnan questioned the precedent set by offering bail in scenarios where the maximum sentence for alleged offenses is under seven years, stressing that such decisions should not ignore the accused’s antecedents or the seriousness of the allegations.
An alarming increase in hate speech incidents has been recorded across India.
A report by the India Hate Lab indicated a significant rise in events particularly targeting Muslims, with 668 incidents recorded in 2023. Notably, 75% of these events occurred in regions governed by the BJP, including in the National Capital Territory of Delhi. The latter half of the year saw a 62% surge in such incidents, with the period between August and November marking the peak, influenced by the Shaurya Jagran rallies and legislative elections.
The role of BJP leaders in these incidents was particularly noted, with legislator T. Raja Singh actively participating in 23 events, 14 of which included direct calls for violence.
The nature of the hate speech varied, including conspiracy theories such as “love jihad,” “land jihad,” and “population jihad,” which collectively accounted for 63% of the incidents. The content often escalated to calls targeting Muslim places of worship and exploiting international conflicts, like the Israel-Gaza strife, to stoke domestic unrest against Muslims.
Hate speech includes any communication — whether spoken, written, or behavioural — that targets or uses derogatory or discriminatory language aimed at an individual or group based on their intrinsic characteristics such as religion, ethnicity, nationality, race, color, descent, gender, or another identity factor. Although definitions of hate speech may differ across legal jurisdictions and cultural contexts, its core is defined by its purpose and impact: to belittle, marginalise and provoke antagonism towards people based on their identity.
