NEW DELHI: In a relief Congress MP Imran Pratapgarhi, the Supreme Court on Tuesday granted interim protection from any coercive action to in connection with an FIR lodged by the Gujarat police over his video post with a poem for allegedly promoting enmity between different groups of people.
SC Grants Interim Relief to Imran Pratapgarhi in Gujarat FIR Case
A bench of Justices Abhay S Oka and Ujjal Bhuyan issued notice to the state government on a plea by the lawmaker challenging the Gujarat High Court's order declining any relief to him.
Senior advocate Kapil Sibal, appearing for the petitioner, contended that the High Court had dismissed his plea even without issuing a notice.
Congress MP Faces FIR for Poem Video Allegedly Promoting Enmity
The Rajya Sabha MP has earlier grabbed media attention for reciting poems in praise of Uttar Pradesh gangster politicians Atiq Ahmad and Muktar Ansari.
On January 17, 2025, the Gujarat High Court refused to quash the FIR for charges of promoting communal disharmony by posting a video clip with the poem “Ae khoon ke pyase baat suno... (Listen, o bloodthirsty...)” running in the background.
The video with the poem was posted by the politician on Instagram following his visit to the state.
“Looking at the tenor of the poem, it certainly indicates something about the throne. The responses received to the said post by other persons also indicate that the message was posted in a manner which certainly creates a disturbance in social harmony," Justice Sandeep N Bhatt had said in his order.
The High Court stated that citizens of this country should “behave” in a way which doesn’t disturb communal and social harmony.
“The petitioner, who is a Member of Parliament, is expected to behave in some more restricted manner as he is expected to know more about the repercussions of such a post,” the order stated.
On January 3, Rajya Sabha member Pratapgarhi was booked by the Jamnagar police for promoting enmity between different groups based on religion, race, statements prejudicial to national integration, insulting religious group or their beliefs, and abetting the commission of an offence by the public or by a group of more than ten people, among other charges.
