Ruling party endorsing hate speech: Former Supreme Court judge Justice Rohinton Nariman

Retired Supreme Court judge Justice Rohinton Nariman on Friday expressed concern over the rising instances of hate speech and calls for genocide against minorities in the country while lamenting that silence and endorsement of leaders of the ruling party to such increasing incidents of communal bigotry was unfortunate. .He said that while students and comedians are being booked under sedition law, there is reluctance among the authorities to book people who are giving hate speeches (and) actually calling for genocide..Justice Nariman was giving a keynote address on “Constitutional Underpinnings of the Rule of Law” at the inauguration of the DM Harish School of Law, Mumbai, on January 14. Below are excerpts from his speech..Reluctance to book people for hate speech.Justice Nariman said that it is unfortunate that young persons, stand-up comedians and students are being booked under sedition law (Section 124A of the Indian Penal Code) for criticizing the government of the day. Sedition law, he said, is a creation of colonial rulers and has no place under our Constitution."On the other hand, you have persons giving hate speech, actually calling for a genocide for an entire group and we find great reluctant from the authorities to book these people," he stated.It was heartening to note at least that a little later, the vice president of the country in a speech said that hate speech is unconstitutional, Justice Nariman added..Ruling party silent on hate speech.Justice Nariman said that the ruling dispensation is not only silent on hate speeches delivered in various parts of the country, but it is almost endorsing such calls for violence.“We also unfortunately have higher echelons of the ruling party not only being silent qua hate speech but also almost endorsing it. We heard the other day from the very head of the party a juxtaposition of a Mughal emperor known for being a bigot, namely, Aurangzeb as against Shivaji who was known to be a secular leader,” Justice Nariman said.He said that in keeping with tenets of brotherhood envisaged by the Constitution, he would have chosen Mughal emperors like Babar or Akbar instead of Aurangzeb. “Now if as a matter of fact, fraternity is a cardinal value in our Constitution and you want to engage persons in brotherhood, I would have thought you should have chosen a Mughal emperor such as Babar or his grandson Akbar. Akbar was famous for perhaps being one of the most secular rulers that any nation had ever known at any point in time," he stated. .Justice Nariman was speaking at the inauguration of the DM Harish School of Law, MumbaiJustice Nariman even proceeded to quote from a letter Babar had written to his son Humayun advising the latter to dispense justice according to the tenets of each community and refrain from the sacrifice of cow.“Oh my son! The realm of Hindustan is full of diverse creeds. Praise be to God … that he has granted unto thee the empire of it. It is but proper that you, with heart cleansed of all religious bigotry, should dispense justice according to the tenets of each community. And in particular refrain from the sacrifice of cow, for that way lies the conquest of the hearts of the people of Hindustan; and the subjects of the realm will, through royal favour, be devoted to thee," Justice Nariman said quoting from Babar's letter to Humayun. .We also have unfortunately higher echelons of the ruling party not only being silent qua hate speech but almost almost endorsing it.Justice Rohinton Nariman .On sedition law .Justice Nariman also called for striking down Section 124A of IPC which criminalises sedition. “It is time to do away completely with the sedition laws and allow free speech so long as ultimately, it does not exhort somebody to violence and end up as being hate speech," he stated..It is time to do away completely with the sedition lawsJustice Rohinton Nariman.Sabarimala review petition was unfortunate: "Something unheard of".Justice Nariman also disapproved of the steps by the Supreme Court with regard to the Sabarimala case taking exception to how the judgment rendered by a 5-judge Constitution Bench, of which he was a part, has not yet been implemented."Despite five learned judges of Supreme Court having laid down with women between the age group of 10 to15 can enter, no woman was allowed to enter," he said. He was also critical of the manner in which the Supreme Court handled the issue when the review petition came up before it with the matter eventually ending up before a 9-judge Bench which he said, is not a norm in review petitions."Most unfortunately, the Supreme Court itself sent this judgment by way of a review petition to a bench of 9 judges (something unheard of in a review petition). Thereby, Sabarimala issue has gone in limbo," he said..Eternal vigilance is necessary, not only for liberty but also for liberty enforced by courts which is the rule of law of the country, said Justice Nariman while concluding his address. .Watch the entire speech here on YouTube.