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Section 295A of the Indian Penal Code

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Section 295A of the Indian Penal Code lays down the punishment for the deliberate and malicious acts, that are intended to outrage religious feelings of any class by insulting its religion or religious beliefs.[1] It is one of the Hate speech laws in India. This law prohibits blasphemy against all religions in India.[2]

Section 295A is a cognisable, non-bailable, and non-compoundable offence.[3] Legal experts consider Section 295A a controversial provision. They believe that there are good legal arguments for the court to revisit and consider overruling the constitution bench judgement in Ramji Lal Modi v. State of UP.[3]

History

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Section 295(A) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) was enacted in 1927[4] by the British Parliament.

A book, Rangila Rasul, was published in 1927. The book concerned the marriages and sex life of Muhammad. On the basis of a complaint, the publisher was arrested but later acquitted in April 1929 because there was no law against insult to religion. The publisher was murdered in Court by Ilm-ud-din. As a result, Ilm-ud-din was honored with the honorifics 'Ghazi' and 'Shaheed'.[5] As the book did not cause enmity or hatred between different religious communities, it didn't violate Section 153(A). The Indian Muslim community demanded a law against insult to religious feelings. Hence, the British Government enacted Section 295(A). The Select Committee before enactment of the law, stated in its report that the purpose was to punish persons who indulge in wanton vilification or attacks upon other religions or their religious figures. It however added that a writer might insult a religion to facilitate social reform by grabbing attention. Therefore, it recommended that the words with deliberate and malicious intention be inserted in the Section.[4]

Text

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Deliberate and malicious acts, intended to outrage religious feelings or any class by insulting its religion or religious beliefs – Whoever, with deliberate and malicious intention of outraging the religious feelings of any class of citizens of India, by words, either spoken or written, or by signs or by visible representations or otherwise, insults or attempts to insult the religion or the religious beliefs of that class, shall be punished with imprisonment of either description for a term which may extend to three years, or with fine, or with both.[6]

Notable cases

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References

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  1. ^ "Hate speech, IPC Sec 295A, and how courts have read the law". The Indian Express. 16 June 2022. Retrieved 29 June 2022.
  2. ^ "Explained | the need for a distinction between blasphemy and hate speech". The Hindu. 31 July 2022.
  3. ^ a b c "Nupur Sharma To Munawar Farooqi, Known Faces Booked Under Section 295A For Hurting Religious Sentiment". Outlook India. 8 June 2022. Retrieved 29 June 2022.
  4. ^ a b "Insult to religion".
  5. ^ "1929 killing of Hindu publisher". TheGuardian.com. 12 March 2015.
  6. ^ "Section 295A of the Indian Penal Code — The Centre for Internet and Society". cis-india.org. Retrieved 29 June 2022.
  7. ^ "Alt News co-founder Mohammed Zubair arrested for 'hurting religious sentiments'". Hindustan Times. 27 June 2022. Retrieved 2 July 2022.
  8. ^ "Kissi Se Na Kehna! Mohammed Zubair Arrested for Tweeting Photo from 1983 Hindi Film". The Wire. 28 June 2022. Retrieved 8 July 2022.
  9. ^ "Alt News Co-founder Mohammed Zubair Moves SC For Bail, Claims Threat To His Life". www.outlookindia.com/. 7 July 2022. Retrieved 8 July 2022.

Further reading

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