The Supreme Court on Thursday asked the Union Home Secretary to collate information from States and Union Territories (UTs) regarding the compliance of directions given earlier by the apex court regarding preventive, corrective, and remedial measures to curb untoward situations, like mob violence and hate speech. The top court, which was hearing a batch of petitions concerning hate speech and rumour-mongering, said the Secretary may collate necessary information by corresponding directly with the Secretary of the Home department of respective states and UTs within three weeks and compile it state-wise.
A bench headed by Justice AM Khanwilkar referred to some previous judgments delivered by the apex court in 2018 and said they specifically provide for a structure and the follow-up action to be taken and the collation of information would reflect how the states and UTs have complied with these directions. "It is not adversarial," the bench, also comprising Justices A S Oka and J B Pardiwala, orally said.
"The Secretary, Home Department, may collate necessary information by corresponding directly with the Secretary, Home Department, of the respective states/UTs within three weeks and compile the information….," the bench said, adding the state-wise information be placed before it within six weeks.