Offences Against Public Tranquillity
(1) Promoting disharmony/enmity/hatred between religious/racial/language/regional/caste groups (via words, signs, visible representation, or electronic communication), or acts prejudicial to such harmony, or organising/participating in force/violence training against such a group causing fear or insecurity, is punished with up to 3 years' imprisonment, fine, or both. (2) The same offence committed in a place of worship or religious assembly is punished with up to 5 years' imprisonment plus fine.
This is India's core "hate speech"/communal-harmony provision, criminalising deliberately stoking hatred or disharmony between religious, caste, racial, or linguistic groups, with an enhanced penalty when committed specifically in a place of worship.
Deliberately spreading content online designed to stoke hatred between two religious communities, causing fear among their members, is prosecutable under this section, with a harsher penalty if done inside a place of worship.