SC reserves order on Congress MP's plea against FIR over poem

New Delhi [India], March 3 : The Supreme Court on Monday reserved its order on a plea of Congress MP Imran Pratapgarhi challenging the Gujarat High Court order refusing to quash the FIR against him.

Pratapgarhi is facing charges of promoting 'communal disharmony' by posting a video clip on his social media handle with the poem "ae khoon ke pyase baat suno..."
A bench of Justices Abhay S Oka and Ujjal Bhutan observed that the poem was actually propagating a message of non-violence, and it has nothing to do with religion or any anti-national activity.
It said the police ought to have shown sensitivity before lodging the FIR.
"This is the problem - now nobody has any respect for creativity. If you read it plainly, it says that even if you suffer injustice, suffer it with love, even if people die, we will accept it," said Justice Oka.
During the hearing, Solicitor General of India Tushar Mehta, appearing for the Gujarat government, told the bench that social media is a dangerous tool and people must act responsibly,
"75 years after the existence of the constitution, freedom of speech and expression at least now has to be understood by the police," added the bench.
The apex court had earlier granted protection to Pratapgarhi from arrest after the Gujarat Police registered an FIR against him over a social media post with the poem "ae khoon ke pyase baat suno..."
On January 3, the national chairman of Congress' minority cell 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 offence 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.
A Jamnagar resident filed an FIR alleging that Pratapgarhi used a song which was "provocative, detrimental to national integrity, and hurt religious sentiments".
Thereafter, he moved the High Court to quash the FIR, saying that the poem, based on which the FIR was filed, "is a poem spreading a message of love."
The High Court on January 17, 2025, refused to quash the FIR, saying there was a need for further investigation and that he had not cooperated with the investigation process.
Before the High Court, the Congress MP maintained that "reading of the song poem, it is a message of love and non-violence."