The Kerala High Court on Friday flagged gaps in India’s hate speech laws while rejecting Bharatiya Janata Party leader PC George’s plea for anticipatory bail in a hate speech case, Live Law reported.

Justice PV Kunhikrishnan rejected George’s petition citing his history of making communal remarks, including derogatory comments against Muslims that he made during a televised debate on January 5, Bar and Bench reported.

The judge noted that the law does not impose stricter penalties on repeat offenders and urged Parliament and the Law Commission to review the provisions.

“Nowadays, there is a tendency to make statements based on religion, caste etc.,” Live Law quoted from Friday’s order as saying. “These are against the basic structure of our Constitution. These tendencies should be nipped in the bud.”

As per current provisions, a jail sentence is optional for hate speech offences as the court has the discretion to pass a sentence or issue a fine instead.

Under the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, hate speech is governed by Section 196(1)(a), pertaining to the “promotion of enmity between different groups on grounds of religion”, and Section 299 related to “deliberate and malicious acts intended to outrage religious feelings of any class by insulting its religion or religious beliefs”.

Both sections stipulate a penalty of imprisonment for up to 3 years for hate speech offences, a fine, or with both.

Kunhikrishnan on Friday noted that even second-time offenders were not subjected to more severe punishment, Live Law reported. “This is a serious matter to be looked into by the Law Commission and the Parliament, he added.

He then directed the registry to forward a copy of the order to the chairperson of the Law Commission.

George was booked after he made derogatory remarks against the Muslim community on January 5, The Indian Express reported.

The first information report was filed on the basis of a complaint by the Muslim Youth League Municipal Committee under Section 196(1)(a) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, along with Section 120(o) related to powers to deal with unlawful assemblies of the Kerala Police Act, Live Law reported.

Earlier, the BJP leader’s petition for anticipatory bail was denied by the Kottayam Sessions Court. He then moved the High Court.

During the proceedings in the High Court, Kunhikrishnan noted that George had a habit of making communal statements, Live Law reported. The judge said that the BJP leader had made statements targeting Muslims in 2022, after which another case had been filed against him.

Kunhikrishnan added that the High Court had, while granting George bail at the time, imposed a condition that he should refrain from making such comments. The BJP leader has violated the condition, the judge observed.

Senior counsel P Vijayabhanu, representing George, said that the BJP leader made the remarks on January 5 in the heat of the moment without any intent to commit an offence, Bar and Bench reported. He added George had apologised for the remarks afterwards.

However, Advocate S Rajeev, representing the complainant, said that George should not be given anticipatory bail because he had repeatedly made such provocative comments despite being warned by the court.