SC questions FIR against Cong MP Pratapgarhi

The Supreme Court on Monday questioned the Gujarat Police for filing an FIR against Congress MP Imran Pratapgarhi for allegedly circulating an edited video featuring a provocative song. The Bench, comprising Justice Abhay S Oka and Justice Ujjal Bhuyan, noted, “It’s ultimately a poem,” and emphasised that the content is not targeted at any religion.“This poem indirectly conveys that even if someone engages in violence, we will not respond with violence. That is its message. It is not against any particular community,” the Bench stated. Addressing advocate Swati Ghildiyal, who represented the state government, Justice Oka remarked, “Please examine the poem. The High Court has not appreciated its meaning. It’s ultimately a poem.”

At the request of the Gujarat Government counsel, the hearing was deferred by three weeks. “Please apply your mind to the poem. After all, creativity is important,” Justice Oka added.

Referring to the Gujarat High Court’s order that rejected Pratapgarhi’s petition to quash the FIR, senior counsel Kapil Sibal, speaking on behalf of the petitioner, asserted, “The judge has done violence to the law. That is my concern.” The Supreme Court had earlier stayed the criminal proceedings against Pratapgarhi on January 21 and issued notices to the Gujarat Government and complainant Kishanbhai Deepakbhai Nanda regarding his appeal.

Pratapgarhi, the national chairman of the Congress minority cell, had challenged the January 17 order dismissing his petition on the grounds that the investigation was still in its infancy. On January 3, he was booked for allegedly circulating the provocative song during a mass marriage function in Jamnagar, Gujarat, under Sections 196 (promoting enmity between different groups on the basis of religion, race, etc.) and 197 (imputations prejudicial to national integration) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita.

A 46-second video clip uploaded by Pratapgarhi on X showed flower petals showering on him as he walked, with a background song whose lyrics the FIR alleged were provocative, detrimental to national unity and hurtful to religious sentiments. In his plea, Pratapgarhi argued that the recited poem carries “a message of love and non-violence” and claimed that the FIR was filed with malicious intent as a tool to harass him.