Overview
- Bharat Rashtra Samithi, which submitted a detailed memorandum on Monday, October 26, urged the Legislature’s Select Committee to withdraw or fundamentally redraft the Telangana Hate Speech and Hate Crimes (Prevention) Bill, 2026.
- The party’s core objections target vague terms such as “injury,” “disharmony,” “enmity” and “ill-will,” provisions that make offences cognizable and non-bailable, mandatory punishments of up to seven years for a first offence and 10 years for repeat offences, and the rule that treats prior charges as grounds for repeat-offender status.
- BRS warned that executive take-down powers in the draft law would allow content removal without notice, hearing or judicial review and asked for judicial oversight and procedural safeguards to protect journalists, social-media administrators and political speech.
- As alternatives the party proposed stronger enforcement of existing central laws, a state nodal officer and cyber cell, fast-track trials, witness protection, victim compensation, wider public hearings across Telangana and publication of the Bill in Telugu and Urdu.
- The Select Committee review remains in progress and BRS has formally requested at least a 30-day extension and an Advocate General opinion, a move that could prompt further legislative changes or legal challenges on grounds of Articles 14, 19 and 21.