The Supreme Court on Tuesday protected from any coercive action, the Congress Rajya Sabha member Imran Pratapgarhi, accused of allegedly promoting communal disharmony by posting a video clip on his social media handle X with a poem “ae khoon ke pyase baat suno…” running in the background.

Pratapgarhi has approached the apex court against Gujarat High Court‘s January 17 order refusing to quash the FIR, observing that there was need for further investigation and that he had not cooperated with the investigation process.

Advertisement

Directing the Gujarat police that no step shall be taken in pursuance to the FIR registered against the Congress Rajya Sabha member, a bench of Justice Abhay S Oka and Justice Ujjal Bhuyan issued notice to state government and others on Pratapgarhi’s plea challenging Gujarat High Court order refusing to quash FIR against him.

At the outset of the hearing, senior advocate Kapil Sibal appearing for Imran Pratapgarhi told the bench, “What have we come to? The court has to say something. The order was passed on the first day itself, even without notice.”

Justice Oka said, “We heard the poem also. Issue short notice. Returnable on February 10. No step shall be taken in pursuance to the FIR registered.”

The Jamnagar police on January 3 booked Pratapgarhi – the national chairman of Congress’ minority cell – allegedly 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 says that the Congress 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.

A Jamnagar resident filed an FIR alleging that Pratapgarhi used a song which was “provocative, detrimental to national integrity and hurt religious sentiments”.

Thereafter, the Congress MP 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.”He stated that “reading of the song poem, it is a message of love and non-violence.”