Archive · 5 Aug 2026
SDPI Leader Riyaz Farangipete Jailed Six Months for Hate Speech
A judge in a town called Belthangady in India sent a politician named Riyaz Farangipete to jail for six months.
He also has to pay a fine of 10,000 rupees.
This is because of a speech he gave back in 2015.
In the speech, he said that if Muslims were hurt because of cows, people would slaughter cows in public and sell beef in front of a bus stand.
The judge said the speech could make people of different religions angry with each other.
Even though nobody got hurt, the judge said the words were still very serious.
Farangipete is a leader of a political party called the SDPI.
The police said his speech could disturb peace between communities.
The judge announced the decision on 4 August 2026.
The Principal Civil Judge and JMFC Court in Belthangady, Karnataka, sentenced SDPI National General Secretary Mohammed Riyaz Farangipete to six months in jail and a ₹10,000 fine.
The case relates to a 23 July 2015 speech at a PFI protest meet near the Belthangady Taluk Office, in which he threatened that PFI workers would slaughter cows in public and sell beef near the bus stand.
The court held that the speech had the potential to disturb communal harmony even though no violence occurred, and that the offence cannot be dismissed as trivial.
Farangipete, who has seven criminal cases against him, was charged under IPC Sections 153A and 295A.
The judgment, delivered on 4 August 2026, comes amid other controversies, including NIA raids in 2022 and a July 2026 SDPI video claiming the BJP was misusing the electoral roll revision process.
- Who
- Mohammed Riyaz Farangipete, National General Secretary of the Social Democratic Party of India (SDPI)
- What
- Sentenced to six months in jail and fined ₹10,000 for a 2015 hate speech case
- When
- Judgment delivered on 4 August 2026; the speech was delivered on 23 July 2015
- Where
- Principal Civil Judge and JMFC Court in Belthangady, Karnataka, India
- Why
- The court held that the speech had the potential to disturb communal harmony and could not be dismissed as trivial
Accused and SDPI's Position
Court and Government Position
Hate speech conviction
Accused and SDPI's Position
The speech resulted in no violence and can be seen as political expression rather than a serious crime.
Court and Government Position
The threats of public cow slaughter and beef sales had the potential to disturb communal harmony, so the offence cannot be dismissed as trivial.
Special Intensive Revision (SIR) exercise
Accused and SDPI's Position
Farangipete claimed in a July 2026 SDPI video that the BJP is misusing the SIR process to delete voters' names and win elections through undemocratic means.
Court and Government Position
The article characterizes these SIR claims as disinformation, noting Farangipete's record of incitement, including defending pro-Pakistan sloganeering by SDPI members in 2021.
Status of the SDPI and PFI
Accused and SDPI's Position
The SDPI was founded in 2009 and is an active participant in electoral politics, with Farangipete having contested the 2023 Mangaluru (Ullal) election.
Court and Government Position
Authorities describe the SDPI as the political front of the PFI, banned under UAPA in September 2022; the ED said PFI funded SDPI operations and elections.
- Sentenced individual
- Mohammed Riyaz Farangipete
- Designation
- National General Secretary, SDPI
- Sentence
- Six months imprisonment and ₹10,000 fine
- Speech date
- 23 July 2015
- Judgment date
- 4 August 2026
- Court
- Principal Civil Judge and JMFC Court, Belthangady, Karnataka
- IPC sections
- 153A and 295A
- Total criminal cases against him
- Seven