The Supreme Court on Monday said that “creativity is also important” as it extended its interim protection from any coercive action against Congress Member of Parliament (Rajya Sabha) Imran Pratapgarhi, who has been accused of promoting communal disharmony by the Gujarat Police for posting a video clip of his poem on his social media handle.

Telling the Gujarat Police to “apply your mind to the poem. Ultimately, creativity is also important,” Justice Abhay S Oka, heading a bench also comprising Justice Ujjal Bhutan, said, “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. That is the message which the poem gives. It is not against any particular community.”

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The bench said this as it granted more time to the Gujarat Police to file its response to Pratapgarhi’s plea challenging the January 17, 2025, Gujarat High Court order refusing to quash the FIR against him.

Posting the matter for hearing on March 3, 2025, the bench questioned the Gujarat Police for registering an FIR against Pratapgarhi over a social media post with the poem “ae khoon ke pyase baat suno…”

On January 21, 2025, while issuing notice to the Gujarat government, the Supreme Court, while protecting Imran Pratapgarhi from any coercive action by the Gujarat Police, had ordered, “In the meanwhile, no further steps shall be taken in any manner on the basis of First Information Report (FIR) No.11202008250014 of 2025 dated 3rd January, 2025 registered at City A-Division Police Station, Jamnagar.”

On January 3, the national chairman of Congress Minority Cell Imran Pratapgarhi was booked by Jamnagar Police for promoting enmity between different groups on the basis of religion, race, statements prejudicial to national integration, insulting religious group or their beliefs, abetting the commission of an offense by the public or by a group of more than ten people, among other charges.

The FIR alleged that the Rajya Sabha MP was booked after he posted the 46-second video clip on December 29 on X handle with a poem “ae khoon ke pyase baat suno…” running in the background.

An FIR by a Jamnagar resident alleged that Imran Pratapgarhi used a song which was “provocative, detrimental to national integrity and hurt religious sentiments.”

Thereafter, Imran Pratapgarhi moved the High Court for quashing the FIR, saying that the poem, based on which the FIR was filed, “is a poem spreading a message of love.”

On January 17, 2025, the High Court refused to quash the FIR, saying that there was a need for further investigation and that he had not cooperated with the investigation.