LAW ON HATE CRIMES

INTRODUCTION

There is no specific statute that addresses hate crime, as no separate legal framework or
legislation exists for the same. However, according to the legal interpretation of a few
sections in the IPC that are somehow related to hate crime, it is defined as a criminal act
motivated by hostility against a particular group or individual due to differences in caste,
religion, customs, race, sex, place of birth, or other characteristics. In modern times, it now
refers to honour killing, love jihad, and hate speech that is disparaging, disrespectful, or
offensive in nature rather than mob lynching and prejudice against Dalits. 1 Hate crimes can
be committed against both property and people by insulting, assaulting, abusing, or
destructing the property of a particular social group or individual. Although hate crimes take
different forms in different corners of the world, in India they are mostly motivated by caste
and religious conflicts.2 The Indian constitution, under Article 14, guarantees equal treatment
to every person and prohibits discrimination on the grounds of religion or race. Regardless of
caste, gender, or place of birth, hate crimes remain in the roots of this country. Currently,
there are a few sections of the IPC, like 53A, 153A, 153B, 295A, 298, 505 (1), and 505 (2),
which are directly linked to some forms of hate crimes, but they are not fully sufficient to
deal with the current situation. There are some other statutes that contain provisions
concerning hate crime and hate speech, like the Representation of People Act, 1951, and the
Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989.

HISTORY OF HATE CRIMES

Hate crimes have deep historical roots not only in India but globally. For instance, hatred and
extermination against Jews by Hitler are prime examples of hate crimes, where Germans
were considered superior and Jews were viewed as a lower class of society. These Jews were
subjected to torture by being sent to concentration camps and gas chambers, this
demonstrates bias and partial treatment by society towards some social groups based on their
race and religion. The treatment of black people as slaves by whites, treating women as
chattels of their husbands, and persecution of Rohingya Muslims in their home country,
Myanmar, are some imminent examples of hate crimes. When it comes to India, the pogrom
1
https://www.drishtiias.com/to-the-points/Paper2/hate-crime-1
2
https://primelegal.in/2023/07/23/laws-on-hate-crime-in-india/
of Kashmiri Pandits by the Muslim majority made Kashmir an unfavourable environment for
people who had originally lived in that state. The Muslims have offered Kashmiri Pandits
three options: they can either become Muslims by changing their religion, they can die, or
they can leave their native state of Kashmir. The people who opposed or protested against this
decision were put to death, and many of them migrated to other states because remaining in
Kashmir posed a threat to their lives. The communal violence that occurred during our ex-PM
Indira Gandhi’s assassination, the demolition of Babri Majid, the Godhra Train riots and the
recent one East-Delhi riots can demonstrate how deeply ingrained hate crimes are in our
nation and how unacceptable it is that there has been no legislative framework for the same
till now.3

CONCEPT OF HATE CRIMES AND HOW IT IS DIFFERENT FROM OTHER

CRIMINAL OFFENCES

Crimes committed with a bias, prejudice and motivation against someone are known as hate
crimes. This line of reasoning apart Hate crimes from other kinds of criminal offences. Hate
crimes are not one type of crime, it could be a violent act, a threat, damage to property, an
assault, a murder, or another kind of crime. Consequently, the words "hate crime" and "bias
crime" define a type of crime rather than a specific criminal offence under the penal code. 4

Hate crimes are comprised of two elements:

 A basic criminal offence which means hate crime is the commission of an act which
constitute an offence under general criminal law. A basic offence must have been
committed for there to be a hate crime i.e., all the pre-requites of a basic criminal
offence must be fulfilled to establish a hate crime. If there is no initial offence, then it
could not be a hate crime.
 Committed with motivation which means such criminal offence must be committed
with biasness, motivation or with some specific mindset towards a target social group
on grounds on either religion or caste differences.

In the criminal law, Mens rea was given the most important position as it is used to determine
whether an act is a criminal act or not. It is necessary to prove that the accused had a malice

3
https://legalvidhiya.com/hate-crimes-their-nature-and-the-laws-connected-with-them/#google_vignette
4
https://www.legalserviceindia.com/legal/article-8812-hate-crime.html
or evil intention to commit a crime. But the hate crimes are more governed by the motivation
rather than intention as it is a biased crime.5

REASONS BEHIND RAPID INCREASE IN HATE CRIMES OFFENCES

 Expression of Prejudice or Bias: What defines a "hate crime" more accurately is the
display of prejudice or bias against the victim's membership in a certain group by the
perpetrator, rather than the motivation of hatred for the victim itself. Haters may be
swayed by multiple preconceptions rather than just one, since hate crimes are
sometimes motivated by a combination of prejudices.
 Impact of Social Environments: Our social environments may also contribute to hate
crimes. When a culture is set up to favour some identification qualities over others—
like being white, male, and heterosexual than, hate crimes are more likely to happen.
Systemic discrimination, which is usually enshrined in rules, regulations, or other
legal frameworks, can create an atmosphere in which those who commit
discriminatory acts against members of specific minority groups feel free to act as
they like.6
 Others Factors: Other factors such as religious or ethnic conflicts which leads to
tension between people from different religions and caste, and caste discrimination
which has been deeply rooted in our country led to forced displacement of some
social groups due to hate crimes against them.

LEGAL FRAMEWORK RELATED TO HATE CRIMES

 Section 153A deals with increase in enmity between different social groups on basis
of race, religion, place of birth, residence and language by spoken or written words,
any signs or visible representation or commits any act which is prejudicial to the
maintenance of harmony.
 Section 153B deals with imputations, assertions that are prejudicial to national
integrity.
 Section 295A narrows down the scope from national integrity and harmony to
deliberate and malicious acts intended to outrage religious feelings of any class by
insulting its religion or religious beliefs.

5
https://www.questjournals.org/jrhss/papers/vol11-issue9/11094245.pdf
6
https://www.drishtiias.com/to-the-points/Paper2/hate-crime-1
  Section 298 too, deals with speech that is deliberately intended to wound religious
feelings.
 Section 505 is a distant one from the paradigm of insult to religious feelings or
promoting enmity, but it does deal with statements conducing to public mischief.
 Article 17 of Indian constitution ban the practice of untouchability and any disability
arising out of it shall be an offence. The practice of untouchability is a form of hate
crimes which is committed on the grounds of religion, race, caste, sex or place of
birth.
 Article 25 – 28 of Indian constitution establish Indian as a secular country and
guarantees every citizen right to practice, freely express, believe, promote and engage
in any religion or religious activities.

Others statues

 The Representation of Peoples Act, 1951 also somehow related to hate crimes
through hate speech which is a form of hate crimes. Section 125 of this act states that
‘Any person who in connection with an election under this Act promotes or attempts
to promote on grounds of religion, race, caste, community or language, feelings of
enmity or hatred, between different classes of the citizens of India shall be punishable,
with imprisonment for a term which may extend to three years, or with fine, or with
both.’

This section provides a safe environment at ground level and prevent it from turn it into a
communal violence.

 The SC and ST (Prevention of Atrocities Act), 1989 it prevents SC or ST

community from humiliation.7

Section 3(1) of this act states that one who intentionally insults or intimates with intention to
humiliate a member of SC or ST community ‘shall be punished with imprisonment which
shall not be less than 6 months but may extend to 5 years with fine’.

This legislation talks about punishing anyone who promote dehumanisation or disrespectful
behaviour directed towards Scheduled Castes or Scheduled Tribes members.

7
https://cjp.org.in/an-indian-law-on-hate-speech-the-contradictions-and-lack-of-conversation/
This clause acknowledges that any attempt to dehumanise or diminish the value of an individ
ual on the basis of their caste membership would be detrimental to the community as a whole.

 Five years after the Supreme Court asked the Government to consider a separate law
for lynching, the Government come up with The Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita Bill,
2023 introduced mob lynching which is a form of hate crimes as an offence under
Section 101(2) it states: “When a group of five or more persons acting in concert
commits murder on the ground of race, caste or community, sex, place of birth,
language, personal belief or any other ground each member of such group shall be
punished with death or with imprisonment for life or imprisonment for a term which
shall not be less than seven years, and shall also be liable to fine.” and hate speech as
a crime with 3 year jail term.

CONCLUSION

The powerful have always taken advantage of the weak for their own gain. These behaviours
can take many different forms in India, such as racism, hate speech, and mistreatment of
minorities. Considering the diversity of the nation, hate divides society and labels people into
various religions, sects, and other groups, which is not how any Indian should think. People
in stronger positions expect those in inferior positions to obey them. India is currently
experiencing extreme unrest, with a rising number of hate crimes reported. The variety of
Indian society may be seriously threatened by these crimes if they are not prevented,
particularly if there is public support for them. The laws now in place have not shown any
promise in stopping similar occurrences from happening in the future. The only way to deal
with this situation is to enact severe laws and enforce them strictly.