SC Nixes FIR on MP, Says Reciting Poem Not Communal

New Delhi: A Supreme Court bench quashed an FIR lodged by the Gujarat police against Congress MP Imran Pratapgarhi, denouncing the Gujarat police for suppressing freedom of speech. The MP had been booked for allegedly sharing an edited video of a provocative song, a move the court described as a protected form of artistic expression.

The bench, comprising Justices Abhay S. Oka and Ujjal Bhuyan, observed that reciting a poem, stand-up comedy, or any artistic performance should not be construed as inciting hatred or communal animosity. “Seventy-five years into our republic, we cannot be seen to be so shaky on our fundamentals that mere recital of a poem or, for that matter, any form of art or entertainment, such as stand-up comedy, can be alleged to lead to animosity or hatred amongst different communities,” the judges stated. They warned that adopting such a view would stifle legitimate public discourse — an essential pillar of a free society.

The decision came as part of a challenge to a January 17 order from the Gujarat High Court, which had dismissed Pratapgarhi’s plea to quash the FIR. The MP, national chairman of the Congress' minority cell, was initially booked on January 3 in Jamnagar under Section 196 (promoting enmity between different groups) and Section 197 (assertions prejudicial to national integration) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita. The 46-second video, posted on X, featured the MP amidst a mass marriage function, with background music allegedly containing provocative lyrics aimed at undermining national unity.

In a separate matter, another bench of Justices Vikram Nath and Sandeep Mehta issued notices on a plea filed by Jitendra Narayan Tyagi, formerly known as Syed Waseem Rizvi. Tyagi, a Lucknow-based speaker, seeks the consolidation of four criminal cases registered against him over alleged hate speeches directed at Muslims during the Haridwar Dharam Sansad in 2021. Among these, one case is pending in Srinagar — a jurisdiction Tyagi argues poses a significant risk to his safety given persistent threats, including death threats and fatwas calling for his execution by figures such as Maulana Syed Mohammad Shabibul Husaini.

While the court agreed to consider clubbing all the cases into a single trial, it stopped short of granting Tyagi any protection against coercive actions in the pending proceedings. Notices have been issued to the Jammu and Kashmir and Uttarakhand governments, as well as to Danish Hassan, the complainant in the Srinagar case, with responses expected within four weeks.