The court further noted that the poem was shared by thousands of people on social media and lauded by literary doyens at various national and international events.
The Madhya Pradesh High Court has quashed an FIR against a government school teacher from Betul who was booked for uploading a video containing the recitation a Urdu poem as his WhatsApp status. The court said that there was nothing on record to indicate intent to spread hatred or communal hostility and that the poem “is a satirical and thought-provoking commentary on the issue of human rights violations against women”.
Justice B P Sharma observed that “criminal liability for speech-related offences cannot be imposed merely on the basis of subjective perceptions or speculative apprehensions, but must be founded on clear and proximate evidence of incitement or tendency to disrupt public order.”
The case pertained to petitioner Faizan Ansari, a government school teacher against whom an FIR was registered at Chicholi police station in Betul district under Section 353(2) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita after he uploaded on his WhatsApp status a video containing a recitation of the Urdu nazm ‘Be-haya’, authored by poet Shoaib Kiani.
In its order, the court said, “The act of the petitioner in sharing a poetic recitation, without any additional commentary or intent to incite, cannot be construed as promoting enmity or public mischief because, the Urdu poem written by Shoaib Kaini which was uploaded on the WhatsApp status (DP) by the petitioner and poem relates to the condition and sarcastic take on human rights, abuse of the women in Pakistan or any other country.”
The court further noted that the poem was shared by thousands of people on social media and lauded by literary doyens at various national and international events.
Justice Sharma observed that the FIR did not contain any material indicating intent to spread hatred or communal hostility. “There is no material whatsoever to indicate that the petitioner intended to promote hatred or incite violence, nor is there any evidence of actual disturbance of public order attributable to the act of the petitioner,” the order stated.
The court also said, “the FIR is conspicuously silent on any such intent attributable to the petitioner. The act alleged against the petitioner is confined to posting a video of a poetic recitation, without any additional commentary or exhortation and there is no material to suggest that the petitioner intended to incite hostility between communities or the content was directed against any identifiable group.”
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According to the petition, Ansari had posted the video on his WhatsApp status on July 22, 2025, around 10:15 am without any additional message or commentary. Later that day, police allegedly summoned him to the police station, seized his mobile phone and registered the FIR after complaints claimed the video could disturb communal harmony.
