Fight against hate speech must be on behalf of all, and not just limited to one’s own community: Supreme Court

The Supreme Court of India on Friday (March 20, 2026) said the fight against hate speech must be on behalf of all, and not just limited to one’s own community. 

“Why should a particular community come up and say ‘protect my community against hate speech’? Rather, we should say ‘no one should indulge in hate speech’,” Justice B.V. Nagarathna, heading a Bench, observed orally.

Justice Nagarathna’s remark came while hearing a petition seeking the court’s intervention against hate speech targeting the Brahmin community.

The court found that the petitioner-in-person, Mahalingam Balaji, had even coined a term, ‘Brahmophobia’, which he said should be treated as caste-based discrimination and duly punished.

“Why should a particular community come up and say ‘protect my community against hate speech’? Rather, we should say ‘no one should indulge in hate speech’,” Justice Nagarathna observed orally.

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Justice Nagarathna said the court was against the phenomenon of hate speech, whether it was targeted at one or the other community.

“We do not want hate speech against any community. That would depend on the level of education, intellectual development, tolerance and patience in the society. Once everyone follows fraternity, then automatically there would be no hate speech,” Justice Nagarathna said.

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Mr. Balaji submitted that the petition was a result of years of research on the “selective and inconsistent application” of the hate speech jurisprudence. He said hate speech has affected the community.

Justice Nagarathna advised the petitioner to “develop the capacity to not be influenced by it”. “Many things, if ignored, will fade away. If you react, it will only trigger another reaction,” Justice Nagarathna. The court allowed the petitioner to withdraw his plea.