Madhya Pradesh High Court Refuses To Quash FIR Against Congress Leader Over Facebook Post Alleging PM Modi Backed Down From War Under Pressure
The FIR alleged that Congress leader shared a Facebook post claiming PM Modi withdrew from war with Pakistan under pressure.
Justice Vishal Mishra, Madhya Pradesh High Court
The Madhya Pradesh High Court declined to quash a First Information Report (FIR) lodged against Congress worker Yadvendra Yadav over a controversial Facebook post alleging that Prime Minister Narendra Modi had “withdrawn” from war with Pakistan under pressure from the neighbouring country.
A Bench of Justice Vishal Mishra held, “There is a very limited scope of interference in a petition seeking quashment of the FIR. The High Court should be vigilant and should interfere in rare of rarest cases where prima facie looking to the FIR no offence is made out against the concern, but in the present case, there is sufficient material collected by the prosecution against the petitioner. Furthermore, the investigation in the matter is still pending.”
Advocate Sanjeev Kumar Singh appeared for the Petitioner and Deputy Advocate General Swapnil Ganguly appeared for the Respondents.
The FIR was registered on the basis of a complaint accusing Yadav, a member of the Congress party and Up-Sarpanch of Gram Panchayat Singhpur, of uploading and circulating images and a video on Facebook that allegedly claimed the Prime Minister had retreated from military action against Pakistan due to pressure from a foreign power. The complaint further alleged that Yadav used “scurrilous language” against the Indian Armed Forces, thereby attempting to malign their image.
The Court found, “The grounds which are being raised are all matter of evidence that is to be establish before the trial Court. At this stage, it cannot be concluded that the allegations made in the complaint/FIR have a truth of ring or not or whether ingredients of the offences alleged are made out or not.”
The Court made it clear that the High Court does not function as an appellate authority when considering the quashing of criminal proceedings and must refrain from scrutinizing the merits of the case while the investigation is still underway.
The Court said that position of law is settled that the High Court cannot embark upon appreciation of evidence and cannot undertake a detailed examination of the facts contained in the FIR by acting as an appellate court. The Court said that no case is made out warranting interference as the investigation is pending in the matter.
Accordingly, the Court dismissed Yadav’s petition seeking quashing of the FIR.
Cause Title: Yadvendra Pandey v. The State of Madhya Pradesh & Ors., [2025:MPHC-JBP:27563]