‘Absurdity’: Supreme Court quashes FIR over book in Indore college library

“This is a fit case where the court would exercise its jurisdiction under Article 142 and close the proceedings to prevent abuse of law and miscarriage of justice”.

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Justice B R Gavai, presiding over a two-judge bench said the FIR over the book – Collective Violence and Criminal Justice System by Farhat Khan – is an “absurdity”.

The Supreme Court on Tuesday quashed an FIR registered by the Madhya Pradesh police over an alleged Hinduphobic and anti-national book in the library of Government New Law College, Indore.

Justice B R Gavai, presiding over a two-judge bench said the FIR over the book – Collective Violence and Criminal Justice System by Farhat Khan – is an “absurdity”. The bench, also comprising Justice Sandeep Mehta, said, “perusal of the FIR would reveal that the FIR is nothing but an absurdity… The FIR taken on its face value does not disclose the ingredients of any of the offences”.

“This is a fit case where the court would exercise its jurisdiction under Article 142 and close the proceedings to prevent abuse of law and miscarriage of justice”.

The police had lodged an FIR against Farhat Khan, the book’s publisher Amar Law Publications, college principal Inam Ur Rahman, and assistant prof Mirza Mojiz Baig based on a complaint by an LLM student of the college. They were booked under sections 153A (promoting enmity on grounds of religion, race, place of birth, residence) and 295A (Malicious acts, intended to outrage religious feelings of any class), among other IPC provisions.

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