Supreme Court refuses to ‘short-circuit’ procedure, refuses PIL on Prophet Muhammad remarks

The Supreme Court declined to “short-circuit” standard legal procedures on Monday (July 6, 2026), refusing to entertain an oral plea to take direct cognisance of derogatory remarks allegedly made by BJP Minority Morcha leader and social media influencer Nazia Elahi Khan against Prophet Muhammad.

Addressing the counsel who made the oral mentioning, a Vacation Bench of Justices Ahsanuddin Amanullah and Sheel Nagu said it would not risk the hierarchical “system” for filing complaints go “haywire”.

Justice Amanullah said the issue raised in the plea was “very grave”, but the procedure of filing a complaint with the police first, followed by due investigation must be strictly followed. Parties cannot rush to the Supreme Court as the first port of call. The Bench criticised the rising tendency to bypass due procedure laid out by the law.

The counsel, who orally mentioned the public interest petition, said the remarks allegedly made by Ms. Khan may “disturb the communal harmony across the country”.

“So you file a PIL? Why come here? Have you filed a complaint with the police? Why don’t you have faith in the system?” Justice Amanullah questioned the lawyer.

Justice Amanullah said the Supreme Court was also part of the system. “We are only at its apex. We are here to monitor,” the judge said.

The Bench said if every litigant or prospective complainant chose to sideline the police and the courts below, and approach the Supreme Court, the entire system would turn out chaotic.

“If a litigant starts short-circuiting the system, the other functionaries would simply raise their hands and do nothing. If you go to them and give them a chance to act or decide on your complaint, it would be an eye-opener for us, and we would also be able to see if these functionaries are working or not,” Justice Amanullah said.

The apex court urged the lawyers not to “sensationalise sensitive cases” like these. “To all counsel, we would like to say, you are a citizen of India. You know the law. You know the ramifications. Do not sensationalise these things,” Justice Amanullah said.