New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Tuesday put on hold proceedings initiated against Congress MP Imran Pratapgarhi, booked in Jamnagar, for allegedly posting an edited video of a provocative song.
The matter came up before a bench comprising justices Abhay S Oka and Ujjal Bhuyan. The Congress MP moved the apex court against an order passed by the Gujarat High Court on January 17, which dismissed his petition for quashing the FIR filed against him. The high court had said that the investigation was at a very nascent stage.
Today, after hearing submissions, the apex court issued notice to the Gujarat government and complainant Kishanbhai Deepakbhai Nanda on the appeal filed by Pratapgarhi, who is also national chairman of the Congress minority cell.
Pratapgarhi was booked on January 3, for the alleged provocative song in the backdrop of a mass marriage function he attended in Jamnagar.
The 46-second video clip, uploaded by Pratapgarhi on X, showed him being showered with flower petals as he walked, waving his hands and a song playing in the background. It was alleged that the song’s lyrics were provocative, detrimental to national unity and hurt religious feelings.
Among other sections, he was booked under Section 196 (promoting enmity between different groups on the basis of religion, race, etc.) and 197 (imputations, assertions prejudicial to national integration) of Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita.
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