The Madhya Pradesh High Court has dismissed a plea seeking quashing of an FIR registered against Congress worker Yadvendra Yadav over a Facebook post alleging that Prime Minister Narendra Modi withdrew from war with Pakistan under pressure from the neighboring country.

Justice Vishal Mishra, hearing the matter in Yadvendra Pandey vs The State of Madhya Pradesh, held that the investigating agency had collected sufficient material against the petitioner and that the investigation was still ongoing.

“There is very limited scope of interference in a petition seeking quashment of FIR… In the present case, there is sufficient material collected by the prosecution against the petitioner,” the Court observed.

The FIR was registered based on a complaint that Yadav had shared doctored images and a video on Facebook, claiming that the Prime Minister had withdrawn military action against Pakistan due to pressure from that country. It was also alleged that Yadav used scurrilous language against the Indian Armed Forces.

Yadav, also the Up-Sarpanch of Gram Panchayat Singhpur, argued that the FIR was politically motivated and lodged by supporters of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). He denied any intention to harm the nation's reputation and sought to have the proceedings quashed.

The Court, however, reiterated the limited scope of intervention under Section 482 of the CrPC and stated that matters of evidence and intention must be tested at trial, not during pre-trial scrutiny.

“At this stage, it cannot be concluded that the allegations made in the FIR are true or false… The High Court cannot act as an appellate court and engage in appreciation of evidence,” the bench noted.

Accordingly, the Court found no ground to interfere and dismissed the petition, allowing the investigation to proceed.

Case Details

• Case Title: Yadvendra Pandey v. State of Madhya Pradesh

• Petitioner’s Counsel: Advocate Sanjeev Kumar Singh

• State Counsel: Deputy Advocate General Swapnil Ganguly