New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Tuesday (January 21) stayed proceedings in a case registered against Congress Member of Parliament (MP) Imran Pratapgarhi for allegedly posting an edited video of a provocative song on social media.
A bench comprising Justice Abhay S Oka and Justice Ujjal Bhuyan stayed proceedings while hearing an appeal filed by the Congress MP against the January 17 Gujarat High Court order refusing to quash the First Information Report (FIR) registered against Pratapgarhi.
The bench, while staying the proceedings, issued notice to the Gujarat government and complainant Kishanbhai Deepakbhai Nanda on the appeal filed by Pratapgarhi.
“Issue notice. No action shall be taken in pursuance to the FIR registered,” the bench said.
The matter has been posted for hearing on February 10.
Congress MP uploaded a video on social media
A video uploaded by the Congress MP on social media during a mass marriage function he attended in Jamnagar in Gujarat showed flower petals being showered at him as he walks waving his hands with a background song.
An FIR was registered against Pratapgarhi
An FIR was registered against Pratapgarhi on January 3 under section 196 (promoting enmity between different groups on the basis of religion, race, etc.) and section 197 (imputations, assertions prejudicial to national integration) alleging that the lyrics of the background song were provocative, detrimental to national unity and hurting religious feelings.
Pratapgarhi moved High Court seeking quashing of FIR
Pratapgarhi moved the High Court seeking quashing of the said FIR. He claimed that the poem being recited in the background of the video carries “a message of love and non-violence” and that the said FIR is based on frivolous and unsubstantiated grounds and a bare perusal of the FIR reveals that certain words were being taken out of the context,
Public prosecutor Hardik Dave opposed Pratapgarhi’s plea seeking quashing of the FIR, stating the words of the poem recited clearly indicate the rage to be raised against the throne of the state.
High Court refused to quashed FIR against Pratapgarhi
The High Court refused to quash the FIR, saying further investigation is required into the matter and that the investigation in the case is at a very nascent stage.
“Looking to 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 message was posted in a manner which certainly create disturbance in social harmony. It is expected from any citizen of India that he should behave in a manner where the communal harmony or social harmony should not be disturbed and 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 post,” the High Court said.
