Telangana Govt Introduces Bill against Hate Speeches
Under the Bill, whoever commits a "hate crime" shall be punished with imprisonment of not less than one year, which may extend to seven years, along with a fine of Rs 50,000
Hyderabad: The government has introduced the Telangana Hate Speech and Hate Crimes (Prevention) Bill, 2026 in the Assembly, proposing a maximum jail term of 10 years to related offences. If passed, Telangana would become the second state after Karnataka to pass such a law in the Legislature.
Legislative affairs minister D Sridhar Babu moved the motion to introduce the Bill on behalf of Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy. Under the Bill, whoever commits a "hate crime" shall be punished with imprisonment of not less than one year, which may extend to seven years, along with a fine of Rs 50,000. Repeated offences will attract a fine of 1 lakh and imprisonment ranging from two years up to ten years.
Offences under the new Bill are non-bailable "The existing legal framework does not comprehensively address the evolving nature and manifestation of hate speech, and hate crimes, necessitating dedicat ed and robust legislation to effectively prevent, regulate and penalise such conduct, while also ensuring protection and redress for affected persons" it said
