Kumar Bahukhandi
The Supreme Court on Tuesday January 7 , 2025 granted interim protection from arrest to folk singer Neha Singh Rathore in connection with an FIR lodged against her for allegedly making objectionable posts on social media regarding Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Pahalgam terror attack.
A bench of Justices JK Maheshwari and Atul S Chandurkar passed the order saying that no coercive steps shall be taken, while issuing notice on Rathore’s plea challenging the Allahabad High Court order which denied her anticipatory bail.
The Court however added that Rathore shall appear before the Investigating Officer as and when called, firstly on January 19. Non-appearance, if any, would be viewed seriously.
During the hearing, the State claimed that there was non-cooperation on Rathore’s part. Her counsel however contested the same, highlighting that she appeared before the IO on January 3. To recap, the FIR against Rathore alleges that following the terror attack in Pahalgam, Jammu and Kashmir, where 26 tourists were killed by a Pakistan-backed terrorist organisation, she published “anti-India statements” on her X platform .
The prosecution claims that at a time when the government was preparing to take revenge against Pakistan and had imposed strict restrictions, Rathore was continuously making several objectionable posts to “adversely affect the national integrity, to incite people to commit crimes against each other on the basis of religion and caste”.
By the impugned order, the High Court rejected Rathore’s anticipatory bail plea. It observed that the ‘X’ Posts/tweets posted by her were against the Prime Minister and that the PM’s name had been used in ‘disrespectful manner’ in the alleged posts
The Court further noted that while Article 19 of the Constitution guarantees freedom of speech, it is subject to reasonable restrictions for public order, decency or morality.
It added that Rathore had made the tweets at the ‘crucial time’ when the unfortunate Pahalgam incident took place on April 22, 2025. The order came almost 2.5 months after High Court rejected Rathore’s plea challenging the FIR in this case over multiple charges, including “endangering the sovereignty, unity and integrity of India”.
