After 75 years of Constitution, cops must understand free speech: SC

NEW DELHI: Supreme Court on Monday questioned

Gujarat police

for lodging an

FIR against Congress MP

Imran Pratapgarhi over a social media post with a poem, ‘Ae khoon ke pyase baat suno (those who are bloodthirsty listen to us)’.
The piece is about promoting non-violence and is not related to any religion or antinational activity, the court said, noting that there is nothing objectionable about it. “Some sensitivity has to be shown by police. They should have read the poem before taking action”, SC said while disapproving of the FIR. “In 75 years of the existence of the Constitution,

freedom of speech

and expression has to be at least now understood by police,” it said.
At the outset of the hearing on the politician’s plea for quashing of the FIR, a bench of Justices Abhay S Oka and Ujjal Bhuyan read out the English translation of the poem, which said, ‘Those who are blood thirsty listen to us. Even if the fight for justice is met with injustice, we will meet that injustice with love’.
“This (poem) actually promotes non-violence. It has nothing to do with religion, this has nothing to do with any anti-national activity. Police have shown lack of sensitivity,” SC said.

Solicitor general Tushar Mehta, appearing for the state, said people took Pratapgarhi's social media posts in different ways which created the problem. The bench responded, “This is the problem. Now, nobody has any respect for creativity.” At this stage, senior senior advocate Kapil Sibal, appearing for the Congress MP, intervened and said the apex court should also say something about

Gujarat High Court

which approved lodging of the FIR. However, this was strongly opposed by Mehta who said the court should not venture in that area.
Though the court hinted in no uncertain terms that criminal proceedings against the MP were not required, it reserved its order. “Something needs to be said” in the case which would be reflected in the judgment, it said.
The SC had earlier granted interim relief to Pratapgarhi by stopping all steps in pursuance of the FIR. The FIR was registered over an Instagram post featuring a video clip with the poem ‘Ae khoon ke pyase baat suno’ running in the background.
The FIR was registered by City A-Division police station, Jamnagar, against him for hurting religious sentiments and promoting enmity between different groups Pratapgarhi had first approached Gujarat HC for quashing of criminal proceedings but the HC on Jan 17 refused to quash the FIR, saying there was a need for further investigation. It had said the poem's tenor indicated something about the throne and that responses to the social media post also suggested a potential disturbance in social harmony.
“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 communal harmony or social harmony should not be disturbed and the petitioner, who is a Member of Parliament, is expected to behave in a more restricted manner as he is expected to know more about the repercussions of such a post,” the HC had said.
Immediately after the Gujarat HC order, Pratapgarhi rushed to the apex court which on Jan 21 granted him protection. Noting that he had not been arrested in the case so far, SC had said “no further steps shall be taken in any manner on the basis of the FIR”.