New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Monday questioned the FIR lodged by the Gujarat police against Congress MP Imran Pratapgarhi, for allegedly posting an edited video of a provocative song, saying it is ultimately a poem and not against any particular community.
The matter came up before a bench comprising justices Abhay S Oka and Ujjal Bhuyan. On the Gujarat High Court decision, which declined to entertain Pratapgarhi's petition to quash the FIR, the apex court said that the high court did not appreciate the meaning of the poem.
Senior advocate Kapil Sibal, representing the Congress MP, contended before the bench that the high court order was bad in law and stressed that the judge did violence to the law. “It's ultimately a poem. It is not against any religion. This poem indirectly says even if somebody indulges in violence, we will not indulge in violence….”, said the bench, adding “That's the message which the poem gives. It is not against any particular community…”.
A counsel, representing the state government, urged the bench to grant some time to file a response in the matter. The bench asked the counsel to apply their mind and then come back to the apex court. After hearing submissions, the apex court scheduled the matter for further hearing after three weeks.
On January 21, the Supreme Court put on hold proceedings initiated against Congress MP Imran Pratapgarhi, booked in Jamnagar, for allegedly posting an edited video of a provocative song.
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 based on religion, race, etc.) and 197 (imputations, assertions prejudicial to national integration) of Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita.
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.
