More than 1,500 cases were registered under IPC Section 153A that penalises promoting enmity between different groups, including the offence of hate speech, across India in 2022, a 31.25 per cent increase from 2021 but a 15.57 per cent decline from 2020, according to the NCRB.
Last year, the maximum of these 1,523 cases were lodged in Uttar Pradesh (217) followed by Rajasthan (191), Maharashtra (178), Tamil Nadu (146), Telangana (119), Andhra Pradesh (109) and Madhya Pradesh (108), the data showed.
The National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB), which functions under the Union ministry of home affairs, is tasked with collection and analysis of crime data from all states and Union Territories, the figures of which are published annually in its report.
In 2022, nine states registered over 100 cases under IPC Section 153A, while in 2021 there were just two states — Andhra Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh — with such offences in three digits. Both Andhra Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh had reported 108 IPC 153A offences in 2021, according to the data.
In 2020, there were seven states with over 100 such cases each — Andhra Pradesh, Assam, Karnataka, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu, Telangana and Uttar Pradesh. The maximum, 303 cases, were reported in Tamil Nadu in 2020, the NCRB data from the corresponding year showed.
In 2022, the number of such offences nearly tripled to 108 in Madhya Pradesh from 38 in 2021. The state had recorded 73 such cases in 2020, official figures showed.
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