Court advises Rathore to contest charges in court without commenting on the case’s merits.
The Supreme Court has decided not to quash the first information report (FIR) filed against Bhojpuri singer Neha Singh Rathore, in connection with her social media posts regarding the terrorist attack that occurred in Pahalgam, Jammu and Kashmir, on April 22. The bench, comprising Justices JK Maheshwari and Vijay Bishnoi, dismissed Rathore’s petition, indicating that it was not inclined to intervene at this stage of the proceedings.
In its ruling, the court emphasized that it would not comment on the merits of the case and directed Rathore to contest the specific charges she faces during the trial’s framing stage. The attack at Baisaran, near Pahalgam, resulted in the deaths of 26 individuals and injuries to 17 others. Reports from law enforcement indicated that the terrorists targeted tourists after inquiring about their names to determine their religion, with all but three of the deceased identified as Hindu.
Rathore had been booked in late April following a video she posted on social media, in which she suggested that the terrorist attack reflected an intelligence and security failure on the part of the Bharatiya Janata Party-led Union government. In her statements, she asserted that Prime Minister Narendra Modi would likely leverage the Pahalgam attack to garner votes in the upcoming Bihar elections, drawing a parallel to his actions following the 2019 Pulwama terror attack.
The Assembly elections in Bihar are scheduled for November 6 and November 11, with the results to be announced on November 14. The FIR against Rathore was registered based on a complaint at the Hazratganj police station in Lucknow. She faces charges of sedition under the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita as well as violations of the Information Technology Act.
Earlier, the Allahabad High Court also declined to quash the case, asserting that the allegations presented sufficient grounds for a cognizable offence that warranted further investigation. The court noted that Rathore had used derogatory references to Modi in her posts, which contributed to the decision to pursue legal action.
Following the High Court’s ruling, Rathore escalated the matter to the Supreme Court, represented by Advocate Kapil Sibal. In his arguments, Sibal contended that the charges against Rathore, including those related to mutiny and waging war against the state under the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, were excessively disproportionate. He expressed disbelief at the notion that a tweet could result in charges of mutiny, urging the court to consider striking down the more severe accusations, if not the entire FIR.
Despite these arguments, the Supreme Court maintained its position of non-interference at this juncture, thereby allowing the legal proceedings against Rathore to continue as planned.
