India secular character must be preserved, country's top court says

India's secular character must be preserved and protected, and states must take action to stop hate speeches, the country's top court said on Friday, in response to a petition asking for action on such utterances against the Muslim community.

A two-judge bench of the country's Supreme Court asked police chiefs of two states and the national capital of Delhi to take action against hate speeches, "irrespective of the religion that the maker of the speech or the person who commit such act belongs to."

The petition, filed by a Muslim man, asked the court to direct state authorities to take action against what he said were widespread hate speeches against the Muslim community.

"The complaint of the petitioner is one of despondency and angst," justices KM Joseph and Hrishikesh Roy said in their interim order on Friday.

Muslims are the biggest minority group in India, accounting for 13% of the population of 1.4 billion, the majority of whom are Hindu.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Hindu nationalist party are accused by critics and opposition leaders of marginalising the country's Muslims, but the party strongly denies the claim and says it treats people of all religions equally.