The Supreme Court on Tuesday directed the Gujarat police not to take any coercive steps against Congress MP and poet Imran Pratapgarhi, facing criminal charges for “promoting communal disharmony” by posting a video clip on his social media handle.
A bench of Justice Abhay S. Oka and Justice Ujjal Bhuyan, while restraining the Jamnagar police from taking any step on the FIR registered on January 3, issued notice to the state and posted the matter for hearing to February 10. Criminal cases were registered against the MP for allegedly posting on social media a video recording of his poem “Ae khoon ke pyase baat suno (Hey blood-thirsty ones, listen)”.
After some locals lodged an FIR, the Jamnagar police had registered criminal cases under Sections 197 (imputations, assertions prejudicial to national integration), 299 (deliberate and malicious acts intended to outrage religious feelings of any class by insulting its religion or religious beliefs) and 302 (uttering words with deliberate intent to wound religious feelings of any person) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita.
The apex court passed the directions while dealing with an appeal filed by the MP challenging a Gujarat High Court order which had declined to quash the FIR and had taken the view that the video clippings posted by Pratapgarhi tended to create disharmony and unrest among the public.
The high court had remarked that as an MP, Pratapgarhi had a more responsible role to play and was expected to conduct himself more responsibly since he was aware of the repercussions arising out of such posts. It was also of the view that Pratapgarhi had not responded to several notices issued by the Jamnagar police to investigate the FIR registered against him.
“Issue notice, returnable on February 10, 2025. Liberty is granted to serve the standing counsel for the respondent state…. No further steps shall be taken in any manner on the basis of the FIR…dated January 3, 2025, registered at city A-division police station, Jamnagar, Gujarat…,” Justice Oka, heading the bench, said.
